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An advanced financial degree isn’t a requirement for taking control of your finances. In fact, you can learn much (or all) of what you need to know about finance without a financial education background at all — if you’re willing to put in the work (and, possibly, spend a little money).

Learning about how the realm of money works can boost your financial literacy and may improve how well you spend, save, and invest your hard-earned cash.

So let’s take a look at some of the easiest ways to learn finance on your own time.

Why Being Sound in Finance Is Important

Even if you don’t want to become an accountant or manage clients’ investment portfolios, learning about finance is an important practice for everyone. Knowing financial basics like how to build a budget, how to pay off debt, how ,a href=”https://www.sofi.com/banking/”>bank accounts work, and even how to do basic investing in stocks and bonds can be key to your financial stability. You’ll likely become a smarter consumer and savvier money manager, not turning a blind eye to your bank and IRA statements.

With more understanding of your finances, you’ll have more control over them. Financial literacy can help you avoid (or get out of) debt, save for important goals like a wedding or vacation, and increase your net worth through investments and home ownership. This can benefit the financial health and well-being of your family, too.

8 Ways to Learn About Finance

Wondering how to learn finance without enrolling in a four-year degree? Here are some of the easiest ways to teach yourself about finance. Dive in, and you may be rewarded with knowing how to manage your own money confidently and find your way to financial freedom.

1. Taking an Online Course

Taking an online course is one of the best ways to learn finance — and you can even do it in sweatpants. LinkedIn offers several finance and accounting courses that are ideal if you are working toward becoming a practicing financial professional, but you can also find free or affordable financial literacy classes for the average person.

Popular options for online financial courses include Coursera, edX, and Udemy. Just be sure to find courses aimed at non-finance pros. Many universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Michigan, offer some courses for free; you generally just have to pay if you want the certificate of completion.

2. Reading Books

Another way to learn about finance at a deeper level is through books. Your local library probably offers shelves of books on finance (maybe even digital versions for your e-reader), but you can also order books online or shop at second-hand bookstores.

Goodreads can be a great place to research personal finance books. Popular books for learning about finance, especially for beginners, include:

•   Get a Financial Life by Beth Kobliner

•   I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

•   Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

•   The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins.

3. Listening to Podcasts

If reading isn’t your thing, you can instead try learning finance basics via podcasts (or audiobooks). Listening to the top money podcasts means you can use your time efficiently: Stream the podcast during your commute to and from work, while exercising or walking the dog, or even while cooking dinner.

Some podcasts are aimed at beginners while others have more targeted audiences, usually those interested in investing.

If you’re a beginner, consider checking out:

•   So Money

•   AffordAnything

•   Freakonomics

Students may benefit from The College Investor; The Dave Ramsey Show is popular with people working to get out of debt; and investors who want to learn more about the market may want to queue up What’s News, Jill on Money, or Planet Money.

Recommended: 7 Tips to Managing Your Money Better

4. Utilizing YouTube and Other Visual Media

Podcasts are great for on-the-go learning, but if you want to sit and watch financial content so you can take notes, YouTube can be a great place to start. Here are some of channels with financial literacy video content you may want to check out:

•   The Financial Diet or Two Cents for general personal finance content

•   Wealth Hacker for investing and passive income advice

•   Bigger Pockets for real estate investing.

5. Hiring a Financial Professional

While learning about how to use a checking and savings account is important, more complex topics like debt consolidation or investing in the stock market may be too intimidating for some.

If you find yourself too busy to learn or just struggling with the concepts, consider hiring a financial professional. Some financial professionals offer specific services like tax preparation and wealth management; you can also hire a financial consultant who can offer advice on all areas of your finances, from paying down student loan debt to building an emergency savings to refinancing a mortgage. This process, beyond providing guidance, can also help you build knowledge about the areas of finance about which you are most curious.

Recommended: What Is Financial Therapy?

6. Taking an In-Person Class or Seminar

How to learn about finance if you find yourself easily distracted? In-person classes at a local college or even seminars and workshops in your area could be a good option.

You can check out nearby universities and community colleges to see what classes they offer. If you have hired a financial advisor, they might be able to recommend upcoming seminars in your area. Finally, your local library may also host workshops.

7. Subscribing to Business and Investing Publications

Beginners can likely get by on podcasts and YouTube content, but once you advance to more complex investing concepts, you might want to subscribe to one or two business and investing publications, whether in print or digitally. Popular financial magazines include Barron’s, The Economist, Kiplinger’s, Forbes, and Money. The Wall Street Journal is a popular resource for monitoring investments.

Many investment apps now offer access to news about the market. If you are using an app rather than a traditional investment firm, see what information they offer access to before signing up for any subscriptions.

Recommended: 5 Ways to Achieve Financial Security

8. Follow a Finance Blog

If a newspaper delivered on your doorstep feels too archaic, you can instead use finance blogs to learn basic topics and stay on top of the latest news. One good place to start: See what your bank or investment management firm offers. Many have top-notch blogs covering an array of topics.

You may also find blogs that suit your particular needs, whether that’s understanding annuities, managing finances for a single-paycheck family, or estate planning. If you read a book on money that you like or listen to a podcast that you find valuable in one of your key areas of interest, search for more intel on the expert involved. They may well have a finance blog that can deepen your knowledge.

The Takeaway

Learning about finance when you don’t have any background in the subject can feel intimidating. Fortunately, there are numerous resources you can tap, including online courses, podcasts, books, blogs, publications, and apps. What’s more, many of these options are free, and a fair number are tailored to complete beginners.
Taking some time to learn the basics of personal finance — from budgeting to getting the best rate on your savings to building wealth through investing — can yield rewards, both right away and many years from now.

Interested in opening an online bank account? When you sign up for a SoFi Checking and Savings account with eligible direct deposit, you’ll get a competitive annual percentage yield (APY), pay zero account fees, and enjoy an array of rewards, such as access to the Allpoint Network of 55,000+ fee-free ATMs globally. Qualifying accounts can even access their paycheck up to two days early.

FAQ

Is finance easy to learn?

Finance can be easy to learn if you are willing to seek out informative content from books, podcasts, videos, blogs, and even professionals and then invest some time soaking up knowledge. Learning about finance requires dedication and sometimes a little investment — but knowing how to manage your money can pay off in the long run.

What should I learn first about finance?

Some of the most fundamental personal finance concepts include building a budget, opening a bank account, and understanding your credit score. Once you have mastered those more basic concepts, you can then focus on things like retirement planning, debt consolidation, and real-estate and stock-market investing.

Can I make finance a career without a degree?

Having a degree of some kind (ideally in finance but even in mathematics or other allied areas) is very helpful for building a career in finance. Completing internships and/or industry courses outside of a college setting can put you on the right path, though you may still need a certification for a specific job in finance. For example, Certified Public Accountants and Certified Financial Advisors have completed specific programs to earn their credentials. That said, self-taught individuals might be able to build careers by creating financial educational content, like podcasts and blogs.

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A number of investors are choosing to invest in securities with an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) focus that may align with their values and investment goals. Many see ESG companies as being potentially more sustainable long-term. But determining whether a company’s ESG strategies are having the desired impact requires the use of ESG metrics to measure progress and enable accountability.

In addition, these days many investors also want to know how well companies are managing the risks associated with climate-related changes — which also requires metrics that can show whether a company is meeting key standards.

These concerns aren’t new, but they have driven a number of new ESG-focused regulatory efforts here and abroad. As yet, however, there isn’t a universal set of ESG metrics used by all investors or financial firms to evaluate a company’s progress toward ESG goals, or better manage ESG risks. What’s more, the regulatory landscape in this sector is evolving, which, for the near future, may make it challenging to track certain metrics over time. That said, there are a number of frameworks that companies and governments have embraced that can inform investors’ choices.

What Is ESG Investing?

ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance standards that can help people assess whether companies are meeting certain criteria, as well as whether they are mitigating ESG-related risk factors that may impact performance.

•   Environmental factors capture how well a company safeguards the physical environment (e.g., reducing emissions, pollutants).

•   Social criteria refer to employee safety, fair labor practices, community investment, relationships with customers and vendors.

•   Governance factors include issues of leadership, fraud prevention, transparency in accounting and reporting, and more.

ESG investing began in the 1970s, broadly speaking, although impact investing in various forms has been around for centuries.

At first, investing with the aim of creating positive change for society and the planet seemed anchored in a kind of “do-goodism” and less focused on financial outcomes. In the last 20 or 30 years, though, investors have become interested in socially responsible investing (SRI), as many funds in this category have shown themselves to offer returns that are comparable to traditional strategies, according to a report published in 2023 by Morningstar, a fund rating and research firm.

ESG Metrics Are Key to ESG Reporting

Thus, with the growing appeal of ESG investments to some investors, there is a commensurate need for reliable ways to assess companies’ ESG performance when choosing to invest online or through a traditional brokerage.

ESG frameworks help companies, as well as investors, assess an organization’s stated aims in terms of meeting ESG standards. In theory, relying on a common set of metrics should help encourage more efficient and transparent ESG reporting.

•   ESG metrics establish a layer of transparency and accountability.

•   Reliable ESG reporting helps build trust and a positive image with investors, communities, and other stakeholders.

•   In addition, companies that adhere to ESG standards may be able to demonstrate better risk management.

Recommended: Beginner’s Guide to Sustainable Investing

What Are ESG Metrics?

Until now, ESG metrics and reporting standards have been largely proprietary or voluntary. But owing to widespread concerns about climate change and climate-related risk factors, thousands of companies around the world have adopted voluntary frameworks and metrics in recent years.

There are thousands of metrics in use, many are specific to certain industries. Common ESG metrics typically assess how well an organization is limiting pollutants and emissions, meeting renewable energy targets, upholding fair labor standards, adhering to transparency in accounting, corporate board selection, and more.

The Use of ESG Frameworks

Companies may be required to use certain metrics in their reporting and disclosures. Here too there is considerable variation.

For example, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which has a voluntary governance structure, is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1999 to create a set of guidelines that help companies and governments disclose their efforts in light of climate change, human rights, and corruption.

More than three-quarters (78%) of the world’s largest corporations have adopted the GRI standards, making it the most common ESG framework at the moment.

In addition, there has been a rise in the number of organizations that are establishing mandatory standards and/or compliance rules that require standardized reporting and verifiable metrics regarding ESG performance.

For example, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) began rolling out mandatory ESG reporting rules in January of 2024 in the European Union. The CSRD compliance rules impact non-E.U. companies, as well, about a third of which are based in the United States.

Similarly, some financial institutions have created screener tools that investors can use to evaluate certain securities, but these are typically proprietary and cannot be used to evaluate investments at a different institution.

SEC Climate-Disclosure Rules on Hold

Another widely watched set of reporting requirements was led by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last few years. The SEC adopted new rules in March of 2024, which established a higher bar for companies and required them to disclose ESG-related operational risks and expenses, as well as efforts to meet sustainability targets: e.g., emissions reduction.

But those rules were quickly challenged and remain on hold at the time of publication. Likewise, similar efforts in states like California and elsewhere have been stalled.

Recommended: The Growth of Socially Responsible Investing

The Importance of ESG Metrics

Although the landscape of ESG frameworks and reporting standards is still evolving, and is largely in flux, ESG metrics are important because they help investors to gauge a firm’s impact on environmental issues, societal issues, and issues of corporate responsibility against a set of comparable peers.

Since many investors who are interested in ESG strategies are also committed to making an impact with their money, being able to benchmark outcomes is important.

The Limitations of ESG Metrics

However, it can be difficult to measure ESG policies across different industries, as no official regulations for standardized ESG reporting currently exist. For example, a financial institution might require different standards for energy efficiency vs. an agricultural company or an actual energy producer.

Finally, some of the existing standards are qualitative and may be prone to subjectivity, which can make the ESG evaluation process difficult to quantify. These can all present challenges when you’re trying to apply ESG principles to your investing strategy.

Having an awareness of some of the limitations around these metrics can help investors use the currently available criteria wisely.

9 Common ESG Metrics

Commonly employed ESG metrics consist of both qualitative and quantitative metrics across all three categories of environmental, social, and governance factors.

3 Common Environmental Metrics

Environmental metrics measure the long-term ecological sustainability of a firm’s actions. These can be related to emissions, finite natural resources, and the environment, among other things.

Many of these metrics can be tracked on an aggregate basis or relative to other operating metrics (per capita, per unit produced, etc.).

•   Emissions: Quantifies how much a firm emits in greenhouse gasses, or whether it’s working to reduce carbon emissions through its operations.

•   Waste: Measures how much waste a company generates or recycles in their operations. Can also reflect a company’s impact on its surrounding ecology: e.g., air or water pollution.

•   Resource Usage: Tracks the efficiency and extent of a firm’s operations when it comes to using energy, water, or other key resources.

3 Common Social Metrics

Social metrics evaluate how a firm’s policies impact its workforce, the community, and society at large. Attempts to quantify these metrics have largely been implemented on a per-occurrence basis, or as a rate over time.

•   Human resources: Evaluates how a company treats its employees, gender pay gaps, diversity, frequency/magnitude of any workplace litigation, and employee turnover.

•   Labor safety: Tracks a firm’s commitment to safe labor practices via metrics like frequency of workplace accidents and lost productivity.

•   Product development and safety: Examines a firm’s product quality and sustainability through metrics like number of recalls, complaints, or even frequency of litigation. Can also be linked to environmental standards when it comes to how product inputs are sourced.

3 Common Governance Metrics

Governance metrics pertain to issues relating to business ethics, mitigation of agency risks, and transparency in reporting. These can be measured in terms of how executives are compensated, board policies, and accounting choices, among others.

•   Ownership structure: Reviews how faithful a firm is to its shareholders when it comes to metrics like the number of independent directors on the board, or how voting rights are distributed between management and shareholders.

•   Executive compensation: Measures executive compensation relative to industry standards or company profitability. Can also be tied to social concerns when measuring how compensation structures vary for different genders/minorities.

•   Financial reporting: Tracks a firm’s accounting policies and how comprehensive and accurate they are. Could involve reviewing a firm’s books for key disclosures or frequency of one-off exceptions.

How Do Firms Report ESG Metrics?

To some degree, how each firm reports its ESG metrics depends on its policies regarding disclosures. But now companies do have some standardization for reporting climate-related risk factors and mitigation efforts.

Keep in mind, the adoption of ESG frameworks can vary widely by firm and disclosure of these metrics is still largely voluntary. Additionally, certain metrics may be difficult to quantify and, in some cases, management, stakeholders, or shareholders may disagree on the impact of certain ESG factors.

As a result, professional money managers sometimes may solicit the assistance of third-party ESG consultants to obtain an independent assessment of how a company actually performs on ESG metrics.

How Can Investors Use ESG Metrics?

Investors want to be discerning when investing in specific firms or funds that offer an ESG approach.

Given the range of ESG frameworks and the inconsistency in how frameworks are applied, investors should be aware that some firms may cherry-pick which ESG metrics they use. Investment funds and ETFs that offer an ESG-based approach may use their own proprietary metrics when deciding how to allocate ESG investments; which may make them difficult to compare.

When using ESG metrics, you’ll want to examine a company’s ESG-related disclosures closely to ensure that there’s consistency in the data being reported. Depending on the metric you’re examining, you may wish to avoid making comparisons across disparate industries and focus on identifying “best-in-class” investments for a single industry.

The Takeaway

Broadly speaking, ESG metrics can offer investors a useful dimension for evaluating certain types of sustainable investment choices. Although a unified set of ESG standards and metrics is a work in progress, there has been a steady push among regulatory bodies to establish ESG reporting requirements, here and worldwide.

As with any investment strategy, investors will want to manage their expectations appropriately and employ ESG metrics as part of a larger toolbox for investment analysis.

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