Personal Finance: Invest, Loans, Stocks,Insurance, Inflation

Personal finance at heart is managing income, investment, insurance, and loans. Economy and finance are often discussed in the news but rarely from the perspective of an individual’s student debt, home mortgage, or stock portfolio. Converting all the marketing words to knowledge is frustrating, leading to short-term decision-making.

Personal finance is about knowledge of diverse instruments like gold, cryptocurrencies, and real estate, as well as fundamentals like inflation, debt, and banking.

The main objective of this course is to create awareness about the bigger picture of the finance ecosystem. The massive diversity in regulations across countries and the financial goals of individuals makes it impossible to come up with one solution that will work for all. Hence, understanding the basics will provide a solid personal finance decision-making framework for the rest of your life.

The course uses real-life financial decisions based on my experiences from three recessions across two countries (US and India).

Key Takeaways:

• As a student, a framework to understand the financial factor that will allow shaping your career.
• As an early-stage professional, a sound argument is to start building moats to increase the risk-taking capacity to pursue dreams.
• As a sole breadwinner, a set of tools one could use to amplify their capacity without burning out.
• For all, personal finance is a duty, not a choice.
• Ability to ask relevant questions based on your current responsibilities at your stage of life.

What doesn’t the course offer?

• The course does not promote any specific investment advice or product promotion.
• The course does not recommend any foolproof solution to any personal finance-related problem.
• The course does not provide any stock or trading-related advice.

Overview

• Section 1: Introduction to the big picture and necessity for this awareness
• Section 2: An elementary definition-based overview of major financial entities that dictate our lives.
• Section 3: A bird’s eye view of the entire ecosystem from a commoner’s perspective.
• Section 4: A closer look at banks as financial institutions. Their basic models and incentives.
• Section 5: A walk-through of different kinds of loans. The essential awareness about the structure of loans.
• Section 6: Introduction to “markets” or ecosystem of equities and surprising ways they make their way into our lives.
• Section 7:  Discussion about some other instruments that are not discussed much in the context of Personal finance but are vital to a holistic understanding.
• Section 8: A discussion dedicated to the hidden costs that influence growth. Insurance, taxes, management fees.
• Section 9: An ordinary person’s perspective on the trinity of Income, Investment, and saving. Also, a discussion about gig-economy and index funds in the context of income and investment.
• Section 10: Closing remarks with personal experiences and food for thought.