Free online first-time investor courses

The stock market can be a tricky business, especially when global investment jitters rattle Aussie share prices. But the reality is entry into the market is typically a lot lower than buying a property.

Starting out can be daunting, but there are free online trading courses to help you learn the ins and outs of the stock market before you take the plunge.

Who’s doing it?

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) offer free comprehensive first-time investor courses online. Their online course delves into the types of investments you can buy, look at the benefits and risks and teach you how to identify which shares would best suit your investment needs. It also aims to give a better understanding of the share market, explores different investment classes and will help you develop your own investment strategy.

There are nine online trading courses available, ranging from basic, intermediate and advanced and cover topics such as;

• Shares
• Australian Government Bonds
• Exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products
• Bonds
• Hybrids
• Warrants and instalments
• Options
• Advancing in options
• Futures

The courses range from three to 11 modules, with most of the modules taking around 20 minutes to complete.

The ASX aren’t the only ones offering free investment resources.

The Australian Shareholders Association offers four video tutorials for free to members of the public. These introductory lessons explain what type of returns you can expect from the stock market, what risks are involved, how to identify and minimise the risks and why it’s important to have an investment strategy.  The four free courses include:

• Session 1 Introduction Risk & Investment Plan
• Session 2 Fundamental Analysis
• Session 3 Technical Analysis Part 1
• Session 4 Technical Analysis Part 2

If you want to become a member, you’ll also be able to access all the juicy information such as how to pick stock and how to develop an investment strategy. 

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For those that are willing to shell out some cash for a course, there are a plethora of options out there, but a good low cost option is to find out if a community college near you has one listed.

The Sydney Community College, for example, offers an Introduction to the Stock Market course for just $329 for the four, two hour sessions. It’s a great way to commit to learning about the stock market without having to apply for a personal loan just to cover the expense.

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