Knowledge

Explore a continually evolving collection of lessons, guides, examples, and planned topics covering how money works, how financial decisions are made, and how financial systems are built. The collection may contain errors; if you find a problem, please open an issue on GitHub.

Look up terms in the Glossary, where definitions link back to their lesson references.

Explore the areas

Money and financial fundamentals

The core concepts used throughout finance.

Money, currencies, interest, and compounding
Time value of money, present value, and discounting
Inflation, purchasing power, and real versus nominal returns
Risk, return, liquidity, and opportunity cost

Personal finance and financial wellbeing

Managing money through everyday decisions and major life changes.

Budgeting, cash flow, saving, and emergency funds
Managing debt and understanding credit reports and scores
Financial goals, retirement planning, and pensions
Estate planning, inheritance, and financial decision-making habits

Accounting and financial analysis

An introductory lesson is available: follow a small shop through its first month to connect financial statements, calculate ratios, and understand the limits of the numbers.

Balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements
Accrual accounting, revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities
Financial ratios, profitability, and business performance
Financial reporting, audit, and the limits of accounting measures

Economics and the financial system

How households, businesses, institutions, and policy interact.

Supply and demand, incentives, and business cycles
Central banks, monetary policy, and money creation
Employment, growth, inflation, and economic indicators
Financial institutions, systemic risk, and financial crises

Banking, credit, and lending

An introductory lesson is available: compare accounts, follow loan repayments, assess borrowing costs, and understand credit decisions and repayment difficulties.

Banks, credit unions, deposits, and deposit protection
Consumer loans, mortgages, and business lending
Interest rates, loan terms, collateral, and underwriting
Credit risk, defaults, restructuring, and bankruptcy

Payments and money movement

An introductory lesson is available: follow a payment from payer to payee, compare card fees, and calculate the true cost of sending money abroad.

Cards, bank transfers, direct debits, and instant payments
Payment processing, clearing, and settlement
Remittances, cross-border payments, and foreign exchange fees
Fraud prevention, disputes, and payment security

Investing and portfolio management

An introductory lesson is available: connect investments to goals, compare funds, calculate portfolio results, and explore rebalancing and costs.

Diversification, asset allocation, and rebalancing
Funds, exchange-traded funds, and active versus passive investing
Investment research, valuation, and due diligence
Performance measurement, fees, taxes, and behavioral biases

Financial markets and instruments

An introductory lesson is available: compare instruments, interpret bond yields and trading quotes, and work through orders, derivatives, and leverage.

Stocks, bonds, money markets, and commodities
Futures, forwards, options, and swaps
Exchanges, brokers, market makers, and trading orders
Price discovery, market liquidity, leverage, and margin

Corporate finance and business funding

Learn how businesses forecast cash, compare debt and equity, evaluate projects, and allocate capital. Includes worked examples of ownership dilution, cost of capital, project value, and cash runway.

Capital budgeting, forecasting, and project evaluation
Cost of capital, capital structure, and debt versus equity
Working capital, treasury, and cash management
Startup funding, venture capital, mergers, and acquisitions

Insurance and risk management

Learn to identify financial risks, compare insurance coverage, and calculate retained costs. Includes worked examples of property claims, health-plan cost sharing, deductible choices, and business stress testing.

Life, health, property, and liability insurance
Premiums, deductibles, exclusions, and claims
Credit, market, liquidity, and operational risk
A worked household stress test
Planned deeper lessons: hedging, actuarial methods, and reinsurance

Real estate and alternative investments

Learn how property and alternative investments generate returns, and compare borrowing, fees, valuation, and withdrawal terms. Includes worked rental-property examples and explained exercises.

Property valuation, rental income, and real estate financing
Real estate investment trusts and infrastructure
Private equity, private credit, and hedge funds
Illiquidity, fees, access, and due diligence

Public finance and taxation

How governments raise, spend, and borrow money.

Government budgets, public services, and fiscal policy
Income, consumption, property, and capital gains taxes
Sovereign and municipal debt
Tax systems, public pensions, and social insurance

International finance

An introductory lesson is available: convert currencies, calculate overseas investment results, connect trade and financial flows, and examine sovereign risk and development finance.

Exchange rates and currency markets
Balance of payments, trade, and international capital flows
Currency risk and international investing
Sovereign risk, emerging markets, and development finance

Financial law, ethics, and consumer protection

An introductory lesson is available: compare fees, recognize conflicts and scams, examine privacy and fair access, and document complaints. Legal examples identify their jurisdiction and review date.

Financial regulation, supervision, and compliance
Consumer rights, disclosures, and dispute resolution
Fraud, scams, predatory practices, and conflicts of interest
Financial privacy, access, and responsible product design

Financial technology and open finance

An introductory lesson is available: connect accounts through open banking, compare data-access methods, and weigh automated tools like robo-advisors.

Open banking, data portability, and consent
APIs, financial data standards, and interoperability
Digital identity, authentication, and cybersecurity
Financial applications, automation, and responsible use of AI

Blockchain and decentralized finance

An introductory lesson is available: follow blockchain transactions, distinguish wallets and custody, calculate pool trades and collateral thresholds, and examine token returns and protocol risks.

Blockchains, wallets, custody, and smart contracts
Digital assets, stablecoins, and tokenization
Decentralized exchanges, lending, and governance
Protocol security, economic risks, and regulatory questions

Quantitative finance and financial data

An introductory lesson is available: estimate uncertain outcomes, summarize returns, examine correlation, build simple forecasts, check data quality, and backtest a strategy honestly.

Probability, statistics, and financial modeling
Time series, econometrics, and forecasting
Data quality, reproducible analysis, and visualization
Backtesting, model risk, and the limits of predictions

Sustainable finance and financial inclusion

An introductory lesson is available: calculate the cost of exclusion, compare small loans, explore community finance and microfinance, and examine climate risk, sustainable-investing labels, and accountability.

Access to banking, credit, and affordable financial services
Community finance, cooperatives, and microfinance
Climate risk, sustainable investing, and impact measurement
Financial exclusion, unequal outcomes, and accountability

Help build the knowledge library

We will expand each area with accessible explanations, worked examples, sources, and practical exercises. Suggest a missing topic or contribute a lesson through the project’s issues and pull requests. See About for the principles guiding this work.