Glen Goodman and Annie Weston have done the impossible - they’ve made finance fun! They use humour, music and sketches to help you learn all you need to know about money. From savings to mortgages to insurance, it's all part of an official Open University course with a certificate at the end to prove how financially knowledgeable you are.
Each 'week' of the '8-week' course has two episodes, and there's a quiz at the end of each pair of episodes, with a final test at the end of the course. Take it your own pace - there's no need to work to calendar weeks. Week 1 below includes links as a taster for the course: you'll need to login to access the other weeks and take the quizzes.
So please sign-up/login to take the course and monitor your progress – you can also have progress reports sent to another person. New entrants should start the course afresh, starting with Episode 1 and then listening to the podcasts and viewing the accompanying slides in sequence.
Finally, please remember that this course is educational guidance, not financial advice - and it's completely free. Enjoy!
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What is financial planning all about and why is it necessary? We examine your life journey and reveal how your personality and priorities can have a dramatic impact on your future wealth.
Week 1 Part 1 (Episode 1): Slides Podcast
Week 1 Part 2 (Episode 2): Slides Podcast
Please sign up/login to take the Week 1 quiz.
What's the difference between income and wealth? How do you work out the size of your assets, and how are they affected by inflation? That's all in episode 3. Then we move on to tax & benefits and find out how all this fits into our personal budget planning.
We look at our essential spending and how to cut back on non-essentials. We talk about putting money aside for big one-off purchases, and the ups and downs of online shopping.
We get to grips with debt and interest payments. How are interest rates set? What is credit scoring and how do you go about borrowing money?
Why save? We explain why it's important and talk you through the different savings products. What's the difference between saving and investment? It's all in the risk. We talk about shares, bonds and funds, and which perform best over the long term.
How to take out a mortgage and buy a home. What are leasehold and freehold properties? We look at all the costs involved and construct a household balance sheet to make sure you don't take on more debt than you can afford to pay back.
Planning for a happy retirement: can you rely on the state pension or should you make your own plans? We talk about pension options and the ISA revolution.
In Episode 15 we explore all the different types of insurance, and how to weigh peace of mind against the mounting costs. Finally in Episode 16 we look at everything we've learnt over the past eight weeks and prepare for the final online test to get your Open University certificate!
