Investing is a way of investing your own money in order to receive income and preserve capital. Online investing courses will teach you how to save money and increase it. They will help you learn about financial instruments, risks and returns. You'll improve your financial literacy and build an investment portfolio that aligns with your goals. You will learn how a speculator differs from a long-term investor, and a conscientious broker from a financial pyramid.
The article contains the best courses on investing from exchanges, large brokers, financial schools and private investors. We paid attention to the experience and expertise of teachers, the training program, prices and reviews. All courses can be completed remotely; there are paid and free programs.
Well | Author/school | Duration | Price |
"How to start investing safely" | School of Practical Investment by Fedor Sidorov | 90 minutes | For free |
"First money on investments" | Azat Valeev | 4 days | For free |
"Assets" | City of investors | Access to the course for 1 year | From 100,000 to 330,000 rubles |
"I am an investor" | Fin-Ra | 5 days | For free |
“Personal finance and investments: how to invest money without mistakes” | Netology | 11 hours of video recordings | From 7,210 to 8,990 rubles |
“Investing in shares. Practical course" | Udemy | Lifetime access to videos | 13,990 rubles |
"Financial instruments for private investors" | Coursera | 7 months | Check with the school administration |
"For beginners" | VTB Investments | Lifetime access | For free |
“How to invest” | T—F | Lifetime access | For free |
"Easy start" | Opening Broker | Lifetime access | For free |
"Investment" | Investments 101 from BCS | Lifetime access | For free |
“How and what to trade” | Alpha investments | Lifetime access | For free |
“Bonds: choose, evaluate, buy!” | Finam | Lifetime access | For free |
"The Investor's Path" | Moscow Exchange | Lifetime access | For free |
"Passive Investments" | Finarium | 7 weeks | Check with managers |
"ABC of Finance" | Lectorium | 72 academic hours | For free |
"Universal Trader" | Red compass | 20 lessons of 2 hours | 60,000 rubles |
“I am investor 2.0” | Olga Gogaladze | 1 month | From 11,890 to 98,000 rubles |
"Investing for Beginners" | Vladimir Savenok School | 20 days | From 9,900 to 12,900 rubles |
"Constructor of modern investments" | Alteco | 1.5 months | From 19,800 to 190,000 rubles |
School of Practical Investment by Fedor Sidorov
Website : https://lpt.investorpractic.ru/.
Cost : free.
Duration : 90 minutes.
"How to start investing safely"
The master class is suitable for those who have savings that are on a deposit or just on a card, and who are looking for profitable investment instruments. Learn to analyze investment instruments, learn how to purchase them, how to form an investment portfolio and receive an average annual return of 25% on your investments.
Advantages:
- Technical support during the master class.
- Hometasks.
- Registration bonus is a list of 25 useful services that every investor uses.
Teacher: Fedor Sidorov - a practicing investor since 2015, has created a capital of more than $150,000, the bulk of the portfolio is occupied by shares of the Russian and US markets, bonds, investments in ETF funds, 450,000 participants in free programs, 12,000 students who have completed paid programs.
Training program:
- You will understand what goals can be achieved through investing and in what time frame. Create a personal financial plan.
- Find out what investment tools exist.
- You will understand how not to lose money or what an investment portfolio is.
- Find out a combination of two instruments with a guaranteed return of 15% per annum.
- Learn to identify which company shares are worth buying.
- You will learn how to build capital in 3-5 years, instead of 10-20 years like others.
- You will analyze the portfolios of investors with capital up to 70 million rubles who started with small amounts.
Other courses:
- Quarterly free marathon for beginners.
- Investment club.
- Free mini-courses on financial analysis and financial protection.
Author's opinion
Vladimir Khomutetsky
I help you understand education, write about courses and online schools.
I took Fedor’s big course “Formula of Modern Investment” and I advise all beginners to take this course. This is an excellent basis for further actions in the stock market. The course will protect you from a lot of mistakes and show you the path of a long-term investor. Everything is chewed up! The first month is just a bomb - the importance and presence of goals in investments and in life are above all. The second month is an immersion in bonds and stocks, fundamental and technical analysis. The third month - as an addition to a good base, selection of US stocks, investments in crypto. UPD 01/03/22. Summed up the results of the year on investments in the stock market. Since April 2022, I have been managing 2 portfolios - my own and my father’s. Here are the results for 2022:
- My portfolio is 16.7%, SP500 index is 22%.
- Father's portfolio - 23.7%, SP500 index 22%.
Base - Fedor Sidorov, Denis Maslennikov, Dmitry Solodin.
I follow Evgeny Kogan’s channels, watch the broadcasts of Dmitry Solodin, Vasily Oleynik, Denis Maslennikov. I never stop learning) Find out more
Reviews about the course
Most people praise the course, writing that their level of knowledge and income has increased. Some found it difficult to keep up with the program. See more reviews about the course here: https://vk.com/topic-147042034_36880994.
How to choose the first stocks to invest in?
Before you start collecting stocks, it's important to create your own toolkit that will allow you to properly evaluate and compare different stocks. Some terms and metrics you need to know will make this process easier and more efficient.
Here are some basic investing terms to help you better understand stock quotes and market commentary:
- Bid/ask - When you read stock quotes, you usually see three prices. You see the last traded price, as well as two other prices called the “buy price” and the “sell price.” The Bid price is the highest price someone is willing to pay for a stock. Ask price is the lowest price at which someone is currently willing to sell a stock.
- Market capitalization is the total value of all of a company's outstanding common shares.
- EPS - earnings per share. If a company earned $1,000,000 during the quarter and has 1,000,000 shares, its earnings per share will be $1.
- Beta is a measure that helps ensure that a stock is within its risk tolerance. Beta is the ratio of how a stock reacts to market movements. A stock with a Beta of 1.00 can be expected to generally move in line with the S&P 500. A Beta less than one indicates a stock with low volatility, while a Beta greater than one indicates a stock with higher volatility.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of potential investing metrics you can use to evaluate a stock. However, there are some basic metrics that can be easily calculated and used in your analysis.
- The P/E ratio , the price-to-earnings ratio, is the most commonly used valuation metric in investing. To calculate this metric, divide the company's current stock price by its earnings per share over the last 12 months. A company that trades at $60 and posted $4 in earnings per share over the past year would have a P/E ratio of 15. This is most useful for comparing companies with stable earnings in the same industry.
- PEG Ratio - For high-growth companies, the P/E ratio is not always the best metric. The PEG ratio is a metric that takes into account the fact that companies grow at different rates. To calculate it, divide the company's P/E ratio by its annual earnings growth rate. For example, a company with a P/E of 30 and an annual growth rate of 15% would have a PEG ratio of 2.0.
- The payout ratio is a must-have ratio for dividend investors. The payout ratio is the annual dividend rate as a percentage of earnings. For example, a stock that pays out $0.60 to shareholders every year and paid out $1.00 last year would have a payout ratio of 60%. This can help you determine whether a stock's dividend is sustainable or struggling. This ratio will also tell you whether the company prioritizes reinvesting in the business or returning profits to shareholders.
- Debt to EBITDA is a good idea to avoid companies with excessive debt. While there is no specific definition of what "too much debt" means, the debt-to-EBITDA ratio can help you put companies' debt burdens into perspective. You can find a company's total debt on its most recent balance sheet and its annual EBITDA on its income statement (both of which can be found on its most recent financial statements).
Azat Valeev
Website : https://azatschoolinfo.ru/.
Cost : free.
Duration : 4 days.
"First money on investments"
An online marathon about what investing is, how a beginner can start investing, earn a stable income from his portfolio, and not lose the money invested. Suitable for those who dream of creating their own capital, but do not know where to start, tried to invest, but did not get the desired result, as well as for those who are already investing, but are looking for more profitable financial instruments.
Advantages:
- Hometasks.
- Support during the marathon.
- Bonuses upon registration - a test of your level of financial health and a checklist “16 ways to increase your income.”
Teacher: Azat Valeev - entrepreneur, investor. Earned his first million dollars at age 24.
Training program : divided into 4 days. What will happen:
- Understand what investments are and how they affect income. Understand how much money you need and how to start investing today.
- Learn how to become a millionaire by investing 5,000 rubles per month. Get acquainted with investment tools and strategies, and receive instructions on how to buy your first stock.
- You will understand how to form your own investment strategy with high returns.
- Learn about mistakes and investment strategies, create a personal financial plan.
Azat tells what will happen at the marathon:
To learn more
City of investors
Website : https://gc.gorodinvestorov.ru/.
Cost : “Basic” tariff 100,000 rubles, “VIP” - 330,000 rubles. There is an installment plan with the first payment in 30 days.
Duration : access to materials for 1 year, the program lasts 1 month.
"Assets"
The course will tell you about investing in various assets - the stock market, real estate, cryptocurrency. Learn financial literacy, investment philosophy, learn about risks, taxation, IIS, and investor life hacks. Suitable for those who want to start investing and create passive income.
Teachers and speakers:
- Evgeniy Khodchenkov is the author of the course, created a capital of $1 million in 30 years, has been investing since 2007.
- Alexey Unzhakov is a cryptocurrency expert and practicing investor.
- Ivan Zakharov is a professional and consultant since 1999, an expert in the field of corporate and personal finance with 15 years of experience in large holdings, in 2011 he entered the TOP 10 young financiers of Russia in the national competition “Golden Case”.
And other invited experts.
Advantages:
- Working not only with the stock market - wide diversification of possible assets.
- Invited experts, each a professional in their field.
- Complete the program at your own pace.
- Access to the course platform from mobile, tablet, laptop.
- Feedback from curators and checking assignments at a more expensive rate.
- Recommendations for selecting a portfolio.
- Access to the investment club with a weekly report on the authors’ transactions on all tariffs.
- Analysis of practical cases of real estate transactions over the past 2 years.
- Possibility to upgrade your participation package to a higher one or purchase additional modules.
- Certificate of completion of the program.
Training program:
- Master financial literacy and investment philosophy.
- Create a personal financial plan.
- Understand the returns and risks of various assets.
- You will learn how to open an individual investment account (IIA) and what taxes an investor needs to pay.
- Build a portfolio of stocks, bonds, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.
- Learn how to make money on IPOs and real estate.
To learn more
Reviews about the school
Reviews are contradictory - many are custom, both positive and negative. Among the real ones, aggressive marketing and promotion are noted. Beginners respond enthusiastically from the motivational charge of the speakers. Investors who came for fundamental knowledge noted that the amount of information is huge, some of it is in the public domain, but the course is structured. Reviews were viewed in the official VK group https://vk.com/topic-95539733_41506948?offset=920 and here https://trader-otzyv.ru/gorod-investorov/, https://iklife.ru/investirovanie/gorod- investorov-otzyvy.html#My_review.
Paid training courses
Free courses can give you good basic knowledge about the investment process. But as a rule, paid programs have a more practical component.
Red Compass
Red Compass is an educational platform that has been working in conjunction with the Moscow Exchange School since 2016. There are paid and free courses. The emphasis is placed on short practical sessions and master classes on financial topics.
Numbers:
- 40,564 students throughout Russia and abroad;
- 150 teachers;
- 3,000 events;
- more than 20 partners, including well-known financial companies.
Investments for beginners – Vladimir Savenok School
Investments for beginners - distance course from the Vladimir Savenok School. The director is the first financial consultant in Russia, the founder of the “Personal Capital” consulting group. His investment experience is more than 20 years.
My acquaintance with V. Savenok began with his books, which I recommend reading to all novice investors. Then I participated in several webinars conducted by his school and listened to speeches at investment conferences. It was the presentation of the material by V. Savenk and his financial consultants that gave me a clear understanding of where to start.
The training course can be taken at any convenient time. Consists of theoretical and practical materials with feedback.
Depending on your pace, you'll spend 7-10 days doing 90 minutes a day. Based on your training results, you will learn how to invest in Russia and abroad, build your own portfolio of assets and improve your financial situation. Cost – from 4,500 ₽.
International Academy of Investments
The International Academy of Investments offers paid and free investment training.
Free content includes:
- Video course “How to choose a broker.”
- Investment marathon of 4 video lessons.
- Mini-course “3 components of success in investing.”
- Online lessons on specific topics. For example, on fundamental analysis and working with options.
Paid training:
- Intensive training for investors lasting 2–3 months.
- Optional intensive training.
- Online course “Step-by-step instructions for investing in international stock markets.”
- Intensive training “Effective investing in the stock market”, etc.
Authors and presenters of the courses: Igor Vasiliev (practicing investor in the American stock market in real estate and business) and Igor Gorelkin (active trader, options consultant).
School of Investor Nikolai Solabuto
's Investor School is designed for both passive investors and active traders. Everyone will find in it knowledge about tools that match their risk profile. Some people want to limit themselves only to stocks or index funds, others will risk investing in structured products or real estate.
The author of the course has been investing since 2001, worked as an asset manager at Finam, published 3 books on investing, and has been a member of the Guild of Investment Analysts since 2008.
The course includes 4 training modules with homework after each and feedback from the curator:
- What is investing? Investment instruments. Portfolio investing.
- Autofollow.
- Structured products.
- Bank deposit and real estate investment.
3 tariffs are available (can be paid in installments):
- Basic – 4,200 ₽.
- Business – 6,300 ₽.
- VIP – 12,600 ₽.
Dividend investments. Basic course – Larisa Morozova
Dividend investments. The basic course is a small course for beginners who want to build a portfolio of dividend stocks. It is hosted by Larisa Morozova, and the initiator and organizer is the educational platform “Red Compass”, a partner of the Moscow Exchange.
Larisa Morozova deserves a separate description. She is considered a dividend strategy guru among investors. She is 61 years old and it was in retirement that she began buying stocks that consistently pay good dividends. Larisa herself calls this a hobby that allows her to travel on cruise ships around the world.
She selects shares for a reason, but after a thorough analysis of the issuer and monitoring news about the companies’ activities. Larisa Morozova shares her many years of experience at conferences and her courses.
The cost of training is only 4,000 rubles. Includes 2 webinars that cover the following topics:
- what are dividends and how does the dividend mechanism operate in Russia;
- options for purchasing shares for dividends;
- frequency of dividend payments using specific examples;
- safety precautions;
- types of dividend shares;
- calculation of dividend yield of shares.
“I am an investor” and “Capital” from Olga Gogaladze
The courses “I am an investor” and “Capital” from Olga Gogaladze are, in fact, two stages of one program. “I am an investor” for beginners lasts 2 weeks and costs only 1,900 rubles. You can watch a free lesson to evaluate the quality of the material.
The “Capital” course is for those who want to go further and understand all the nuances of investing in the foreign stock market. Its price starts from 7,680 ₽ (there are 3 participation options).
The simplest tariff “Do it yourself” does not include checking homework and participating in feedback chats. Tariffs “Basic” and “Advanced” are full-fledged training programs.
Olga prepared a methodological manual and reference book for each student with an analysis of more than 300 issuing companies.
“How to double your money in stocks” from Elena Kovalenko
How to Double Your Money in Stocks - 90-day online program for beginners and experienced investors. As the title suggests, the author focuses on investing in stocks. Elena Kovalenko offers students her own methods of working with securities on the Russian and foreign markets.
The program is very rich:
- 25 video lessons;
- every 2 weeks live webinars;
- practice with feedback.
All students receive ready-made Google Sheets for stock selection, a list of 100 analyzed and selected stocks for investment, and participation in an unlimited private investor chat.
“Express course for a beginning investor” from Maxim Petrov
The beginner investor's express course includes 6 training modules, which cover:
- the concept of investing, risks and investor psychology;
- principles of financial security;
- principles of investment portfolio formation;
- high-risk investment.
The training format consists of video lessons and practical homework with feedback. There are 3 options for participation: from 12,900 to 150,000 rubles.
“Investment for a Million 2.0” from Xelius Group
Investments for a Million 2.0 – an online course from professional investors with extensive experience in the stock market. All possible instruments are considered: stocks, bonds, futures, options, ETFs, venture investments, metals and structured products. Each student receives a set of electronic journals for accounting for investments, preparatory materials before the start of training.
The program lasts 3–6 weeks (depending on the selected participation package). Format: webinars, practical assignments under the guidance of a curator, online chat for communication, teacher support. The cost of the course starts from 27,490 ₽ (Standard package). There is the possibility of individual training.
“Welfare” from Egor Arslanov
Wealth is a program that teaches you how to set financial goals, create a wealth plan, get rid of debt, and implement an investing strategy. There are only 3 modules, which consist of video lessons of 15–20 minutes. There is a chat for participants with constant support and online meetings with the author of the course, Egor Arslanov, to discuss issues.
After each lesson you must complete your homework. Only after approval by its curator is access to the next lesson opened.
Online store of Sergei Briz
Sergei Briz’s online store is not one, but several courses for self-study. There are options for beginners and for professionals. A detailed description for each.
Example programs:
- Dividend investing – from 29,900 ₽.
- All ETF secrets – from 19,900 ₽.
- Your investment portfolio – from 14,900 ₽.
- Investment for ordinary people – from 29,900 ₽.
The courses consist of video lessons and presentations for each of them.
Fin-Ra
Website : https://fin-ra.ru/
Cost : free.
Duration : 5 days.
"I am an investor"
This course is for those who want to create a financial safety net and receive passive income from investments. Get acquainted with the world of investments, set financial goals and write down specific steps to achieve them.
Advantages:
- If you take a paid course together with your spouse, then pay only for one.
- You can retake the course for free to reinforce the material.
- Online coaching sessions are held every week.
- Mentoring on paid courses.
Teacher: Dmitry Tolstyakov - took 1st place in the “Financial Advisor 2022” competition at the All-Russian Financial Council Forum, has been working in the financial market for 10 years.
Training program : divided by days.
- What is investing, what instruments are there, who is a broker and how to open an account with him.
- Setting goals, typical mistakes of novice investors, psychology of investments.
- How to buy shares - price analysis, working in the terminal.
- Selection of investment instruments - portfolio investment in stocks, bonds, ETFs. Investments in IPO, cryptocurrency, REIT.
- Answers to questions, analysis of the author's portfolios.
You can keep track of your portfolio using special services or Excel. We have collected for you the best practical MS Excel training courses.
Other courses:
- Portfolio investor.
- Foreign investments.
- There is always money.
- Finances are fine.
To learn more
Reviews about the school and courses
Some students write that the courses are useful, noting the game-based learning format, quick feedback and a large amount of new knowledge. Some people think that the courses are overpriced. The disadvantages include the school's overly intrusive marketing. See more reviews in the selection: https://otzovik.com/reviews/shkola_bezopasnih_investiciy_fin-ra_russia_sankt-peterburg/.
Course selection criteria
While preparing the material for this article, I realized how popular and profitable the niche is – investment courses. How can a beginner navigate the huge number of financial market gurus? They appear like mushrooms after rain against the background of the economic crisis, low levels of financial literacy and general dissatisfaction with the life of Russians.
I advise you to start learning from scratch by developing a basic foundation of financial knowledge. To do this, it is not necessary to sign up for expensive trainings or seminars. There are many books on investing, read a couple of them. You will understand how a competent investor should think and act, what investments are and what tools exist to increase your initial capital.
With an initial amount of theoretical knowledge, you can already make your first attempts at independent investments. So to speak, “test by combat.” Some do just that - learn from their mistakes, gain experience, lose and earn again. But this scenario is not for everyone.
For anyone who wants to approach investing fully equipped, I recommend spending a few more weeks or months learning from professionals. This will help reduce the risks of losing money and disappointment. The range of prices for courses is large: from a couple of thousand to several tens of thousands of rubles. There is also free, but no less effective, online education. I will talk about it separately.
More than 100 cool lessons, tests and exercises for brain development
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Let's figure out what you need to pay attention to when choosing courses.
- Authority of the site
This means who the organizer of the training is, what relation he has to the economy in general and to investments in particular. For example, there are world-famous online educational platforms Coursera, EdX and OpenLearn. They host the best courses on finance and investment from leading universities in the world in English and Russian. Many of them are free, but sometimes you have to pay for a certificate if you need one.
Agree that the authority of such organizations as the University of California, Michigan, Yale or Illinois University, the Higher School of Economics, is not disputed by anyone.
If the training is conducted by the Moscow Stock Exchange or the country's leading brokers, then there will be a lot to learn from them. Training from private investors who have several million rubles in their accounts from investments, and not from grandmother’s inheritance, will be an excellent start in acquiring a very useful skill - investing.
- Course program
For beginners, lessons on the basics of financial literacy are suitable; for advanced students, a more difficult level is needed.
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My main criterion when choosing any courses, not necessarily on investing, is the presence of practical classes with feedback from the teacher. Only this format gives maximum results when you are already in free swimming.
- Teaching Staff
Any self-respecting resource publishes information about teachers: their education, experience in financial markets, achievements in the field of investing, etc. In this case, it is sometimes better to trust a practicing financier and his online blog than an emeritus professor at a leading university who has not invested not a single ruble, but he knows better than anyone how to do it.
Sometimes financial and investment analysts, who are also course teachers, post the results of their investment portfolios over the past years and share investment strategies. I pay attention to them first of all, and not to the one who wrote that he earned 500% profit on his investments in 2022. Where is the evidence?
- Free webinars and articles
You can get to know the speakers and authors, and roughly imagine how and what they can teach. If the entire webinar tells you how great it is that we are all here today, and how great it will be when you buy their courses, then run right away. I give 99% that the same water will flow in paid classes. Many authors give you the opportunity to watch a video lesson or even several for free to evaluate the quality and style of teaching.
Netology
Website : https://netology.ru/.
Telephone: 8-800-301-39-69.
Cost : 7,210 rubles with a discount, 8,990 rubles without a discount. Promotions are constantly repeated. There is an installment plan and a 13% return option.
Duration : 11 hours, recorded course.
“Personal finance and investments: how to invest money without mistakes”
The course will teach financial fundamentals: budget management, investment tools and strategies. Suitable for those who do not have enough salary, who want to save up for a dream and not need money in retirement.
Advantages:
- The author Sergey Spirin is the founder of the Center for Financial Education project, a member of the board of the National Association of Financial Planners, and has been working in finance for 25 years.
- If you don’t like it, you can return the entire amount during the first three lessons.
Training program:
- Learn how and why you need to manage your personal budget.
- Learn to keep track of your income and expenses.
- Understand assets and liabilities.
- Master the basics of investing.
- Get to know investment strategies.
- Learn how to select assets to form a portfolio.
- Watch the webinar in which the author examines examples of portfolios and answers questions.
Reviews about the school
Students note free courses and webinars, the work of mentors, the availability of internships and assistance in finding employment. Not everyone is happy with the price: they think it is too high. Some materials had to be searched and studied independently. For collections of reviews, see the following links: https://mooc.ru/company/netology/reviews, https://irecommend.ru/content/sait-netologiya, https://otzovik.com/reviews/netology_ru-onlayn_universitet_netologiya/.
Rating of the 25 best investment courses
⚠️ If you are reading this article from a mobile device, then scroll the table left and right to get maximum information.
Author | Name | Rating | Registration |
Netology | Passive investments: how to earn additional income | 10/10 | netology.ru |
FIN-RA | Free online marathon “I am an Investor” | 10/10 | fin-ra.ru |
Netology | Personal finance and investments: how to invest money without mistakes | 10/10 | netology.ru |
SkillBox | Financial literacy | 10/10 | skillbox.ru |
Lazy investor | Online investment marathon from a practitioner | 9/10 | smfanton.com |
Global Invest Academy | How to earn from 20-30% per annum in $ with minimal risks on the stock markets! | 9/10 | globalinvestmentacademy.ru |
Red compass | Dividend investments. Basic course | 9/10 | red-circule.ru |
Nikolay Mrachkovsky | Money management: Investor's Arsenal | 9/10 | n.mrochkovskiy.ru |
Maxim Petrov | HOW TO SAVE AND INCREASE MONEY IN “DIFFICULT TIMES” | 8/10 | invest-intensiv.com |
Investments 101 | Online platform for teaching investing and trading | 8/10 | investments101.ru |
4BRAIN | Learn 21st century skills | 8/10 | 4brain.ru |
Tinkoff Magazine | How to invest | 8/10 | journal.tinkoff.ru |
Moscow Exchange School | Let us help you understand investments from scratch | 7/10 | school.moex.com |
Investment assessment | Lecture course by Aswath Damodaran | 7/10 | youtube.com |
Coursera | Specialization Financial instruments for private investors | 7/10 | coursera.org |
RBC | Investment Tips | 7/10 | quote.rbc.ru |
Lemon for tea | Investing for everyone | 7/10 | lemonfortea.ru |
City of Investors | Passive Income Incubator | 6/10 | gorodinvestorov.ru |
Nikolai Solabuto | Investment instruments 2022 | 6/10 | solabuto-school.ru |
Maxim Temchenko | Personal Financial Plan | 6/10 | fin-1.com |
Opening broker | Exchange trading training in the stock market | 6/10 | open-broker.ru |
Finam | Quick start: first transactions on the Russian stock market | 6/10 | dist.finam.ru |
BKS | Trader courses at BCS Broker | 6/10 | broker.ru |
VTB | Investor School | 5/10 | broker.vtb.ru |
Lectorium | ABC of finance | 5/10 | www.lektorium.tv |
List of investment training courses
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Now let’s take you through the program of each training course in more detail. For convenience, I will write down all the pros and cons, as well as write down all the necessary information. All you have to do is choose who to study with.
Udemy
Website : https://www.udemy.com/.
Cost : 13,990 rubles.
“Investing in shares. Practical course"
The course includes 6 hours of video and 3 articles. Learn how to assemble your investment portfolio and conduct analysis, find out what assets to buy during corrections and crises.
Advantages:
- Access to the course remains forever.
- Certificate of completion.
- If you don’t like the course within a month, the platform will return the money.
Training program:
- Learn to conduct fundamental and technical analysis.
- Get acquainted with the rules for compiling an investment portfolio.
- Find out how the author buys assets and makes a profit during a crisis. Get to know the sectors of the US stock market.
- Learn to pay less taxes and choose the right broker.
- Get to know the psychological aspects of investing.
If you decide to transfer your child to family or distance learning according to the school curriculum, then here is an overview of the best online schools where you can safely study remotely and receive a state certificate. sample.
Other courses:
- Investing in shares on the stock market - from 0 to profit.
- Personal finance management.
- Cryptocurrencies for beginners.
- Investments for dummies and others.
Reviews about the course
Students write that the course is suitable for beginners. Learned the basics of investing and operating principles. For those already familiar with the stock market, the program turned out to be of little use. More reviews at the bottom of the page at the link: https://www.udemy.com/course/investing-stocks/.
Coursera
Website : https://ru.coursera.org/.
Cost : free at the beginning, please check with the school administration for further costs.
Duration: 7 months.
"Financial instruments for private investors"
The course will help you understand the complexities of financial instruments and evaluate their profitability, suitable for individuals. Learn the strategy of a long-term investor, master investing through a foreign broker.
Advantages:
- Certificate upon completion of the practical project.
- The course was created in partnership with the Higher School of Economics.
- The teachers are associate professors and professors of the Faculty of Economic Sciences.
Training program:
- Learn to manage your personal finances.
- You will understand what the bond market can offer to a private investor and how to make money from it.
- Learn how to invest in stocks correctly and how to reduce risks.
- Learn about active and passive strategies for creating an investment portfolio.
- You will understand the infrastructure of the financial market, master working methods and techniques.
- Protect your own project.
Reviews about the school
Among the advantages are courses from universities, English-language lectures from foreign professors, free trial periods. Cons: long responses from technical support or their absence, withdrawal of money from the card if you do not disable the subscription. See collections of reviews here: https://mooc.ru/company/coursera/reviews, https://irecommend.ru/content/wwwcourseraorg, https://otzovik.com/reviews/coursera_org-onlayn_obuchenie/.
VTB Capital Investments
Website : https://school.vtb.ru/.
Cost : free.
"For beginners"
The page contains a knowledge base for the novice investor. You will get acquainted with the basic definitions and find out what you can invest in.
Advantages : you can install the “VTB Investor School” application on your computer.
Training program : learn what, how and why to invest, get acquainted with life hacks of investors and read case studies.
Other courses:
- First steps on the stock exchange.
- How to profitably buy currency on the stock exchange.
- How to make money on bonds and others.
From theory to practice
Once the investment courses for beginners have been studied, it is worth trying to apply the knowledge in practice - you can start even with small amounts (link to article).
Here's exactly what you need to do before you start investing:
- Close loans , especially those with high interest rates;
- Create a financial cushion for some time - six months or a year;
- Write a financial plan and decide how much you can allocate to investing regularly.
That's all. Good luck on the stock market! And we will always help you when questions arise.
T—F
Website : https://journal.tinkoff.ru/.
Cost : free.
“How to invest”
This course from the financial magazine Tinkoff will teach you how to save money through investments and build a stock portfolio. Lessons take 10 minutes, after each test, at the end there is an exam. Suitable for novice investors and those who simply want to know more.
Advantages:
- The course is available from a mobile application.
- Teachers are independent specialists who will not sell you anything. They will talk about investments without water and advertising.
Training program:
- Find out why everyone should invest, how and what to invest in.
- Choose a broker, open an IIS.
- Understand bonds, stocks and ETFs.
- Learn about investor taxes and how to reduce them.
- Pass the exam.
Other courses : After completing the training course, pay attention to the advanced program “How to make money in stocks.”
Opening Broker
Website : https://open-broker.ru/.
Telephone: 8-800-500-99-66.
Cost : free.
"Easy start"
The course is suitable for those who have just begun to get acquainted with investments. You'll learn how to budget, learn about securities, and open your first account.
Advantages:
- Speaker Natalya Smirnova - has been working in finance for 10 years, won the Global Financial Planning Awards in 2015–16.
- Speaker Sergei Khestanov is an advisor to the general director of Otkritie Bank, and has been working with securities since 1994.
Training program:
- Video about financial planning: learn how to make a plan and predict investment risks.
- Get to know and understand the differences between a stock exchange, broker, depository, registrar and government regulator.
- Read the article about investment options and methods.
- Video course about successful trading: learn the basics of stock trading and understand the mechanisms of the stock market.
- An article with a step-by-step plan for opening a brokerage account.
Other courses . The school offers courses on foreign investments, bonds, short-term transactions and others.
Reviews about the course
Students write that the lessons are useful and the knowledge gained can be immediately applied in life. Poor video quality was noted. More reviews here: https://open-broker.ru/education/courses/lichnoe-finansovoe-planirovanie/, https://open-broker.ru/education/courses/akademiya-uspeshnogo-treydinga-2-0/.
Investments 101 from BCS
Website : https://investments101.ru/.
Cost : free.
"Investment"
Get acquainted with the basics and principles of investing, understand the differences between financial instruments and improve financial literacy. A course for those who have just begun to study investing.
Advantages : teachers are stock market players and financial advisors; they have been working in the stock market for more than 8 years.
Training program:
- Learn to set goals and choose investment instruments.
- Understand financial planning.
- Learn the rules for forming an investment portfolio.
- Get to know tax benefits.
- Learn the basic rules of trading on the stock exchange.
- Learn the basics of fundamental investment analysis.
Other courses : trading, markets and instruments, trading platforms.
Alpha investments
Website : https://www.alfadirect.ru/.
Telephone: 8-800-707-55-55.
Cost : free.
“How and what to trade”
In the video courses you will learn how to invest in bonds and stocks, learn about the rules for purchasing currency and master the working tools of a trader.
Advantages : in addition to the recorded lessons, the course hosts webinars and master classes every 3-5 days.
Training program:
- Learn the rules for purchasing currency on the exchange.
- Learn how to make decisions and not make mistakes.
- Learn to choose bonds and stocks, read charts and company reports.
- Master the tools for a trader's work.
Other courses : “Introduction to investments” and “Trading robots in the terminal.”
Undervalued and growing stocks
There are two main types of stocks you can invest in: undervalued stocks and growth stocks.
Undervalued stocks tend to trade at valuations that are less than the market average. It's important to know that the goal of investing is to find stocks that are trading at significant discounts to their original cost.
Growth stocks, on the other hand, are generally defined as companies that are growing faster than the market average. The idea of investing in growth stocks is to find stocks that have the greatest long-term potential relative to their current price.
One of the most important things to consider when investing is the sustainable competitive advantages in the company's business. This could mean a valuable brand, patented technologies, efficiency advantages, greater scale of production. The idea is that these types of benefits can help maintain a company's market share and pricing power, both of which are important for successful long-term investments.
Finam
Website : https://dist.finam.ru/.
Cost : free.
“Bonds: choose, evaluate, buy!”
The speaker will share the secrets of choosing, buying and selling bonds. You will learn the difference between government bonds and corporate bonds and understand what their quotes depend on, what a coupon and duration are.
Advantages : course speaker - trader Yulia Afanasyev, has been working on the stock exchange since 2000.
Training program:
- Get to know what bonds are.
- You will understand how coupon income and income from changes in value are formed.
- Learn to choose bonds.
- Learn how to make trades.
Other courses:
- Fast start. First transactions on the stock market.
- Investment portfolio on world markets.
- Strategies for a smart investor and others.
Reviews about the course
They write that the speaker explains clearly, competently and quickly. More reviews at the bottom of the page at the link: https://dist.finam.ru/course/view/239.
Moscow Exchange
Website : https://school.moex.com/.
Cost : free.
"The Investor's Path"
The course will introduce you to the basic tools for investing and help you choose the best direction to achieve your goal. Suitable for beginners who want to make money by investing in the stock market.
Advantages : teachers have experience in investing from 13 to 27 years.
Training program:
- Get to know financial planning.
- Understand investment products.
- Learn how to make transactions without making mistakes.
- Learn to protect your portfolio and preserve capital.
Other courses:
- Investment marathon.
- Futures and options trading.
- First steps in investing.
Reviews about the school
We found only one recent review about the school. The listener notes a large amount of free knowledge, opportunities to communicate with speakers and watch recorded webinars. See the entire review here: https://irecommend.ru/content/dlya-menya-udivitelno-kak-eta-kompaniya-vse-uspevaet-i-bumagami-cherez-nee-torguyut-i-obrazo.
Finarium
Website : https://finarium.online/.
Cost : the first week is free, please check with the managers for further costs.
Duration: 7 weeks.
"Passive Investments"
The program is built in a distance learning format. The course will teach you how to choose index funds correctly, assemble a portfolio and manage it. You can test yourself with online tests and homework assignments.
Advantages:
- Feedback: chat with the teacher and other students.
- There is a mobile application.
- The author of the course, Sergey Kikevich, is an OTR finance expert with 10 years of experience as a financial advisor.
- Certificate upon completion of training.
- Free training in Excel.
Training program:
- Master the concepts of investment, the stock market, learn about investing in stocks, bonds, gold and other assets.
- Get acquainted with stock analysis, learn to determine potential income and risks.
- Learn the rules for compiling an investment portfolio and learn how to manage it.
- Optimize your portfolio and develop a strategy.
Other courses : Bond Investing and Investor Taxes.
Reviews about the school
Students cited free courses and the opportunity to learn from scratch as advantages. The disadvantage is the small amount of new knowledge. More reviews here: https://otzyvmarketing.ru/finarium/.
Lectorium
Website : https://www.lektorium.tv/.
Cost : free.
Duration : 72 academic hours.
"ABC of Finance"
Learn to budget and think through a financial plan. The course is suitable for bank employees, pension fund employees, accountants and those who want to improve their financial situation.
Advantages:
- The course program took 2nd place in the International competition of online courses EdCrunch Award OOC-2017 in the category “Best course from the point of view of attracted experts.”
- Lectorium certificate after passing the exam.
- There is technical support and a general chat with classmates.
- The creator of the course, Valeria Tsibulnikova, has written 30 scientific and educational papers and has been working in financial markets for 11 years.
Training program:
- Investments and savings: saving means earning.
- Get to know the qualities an investor needs.
- You will understand financial instruments, learn how to avoid risks and increase profitability.
- You will learn how to form an investment portfolio and predict changes.
- Get acquainted with long-term and short-term investment strategies.
- Learn to save and invest, make a financial plan.
Video about the course:
Reviews about the school
Students liked the interesting presentation of the material, the user-friendly interface, and the opportunity to take courses for free. Read the full reviews here: https://otzovik.com/reviews/lektorium_tv-prosvetitelskiy_onlayn_proekt/, https://irecommend.ru/content/besplatnoe-obrazovanie-eshche-sushchestvuet-samorazvitie-samoobuchenie-nauchnye-lektsii-aktu.
Free training courses
To get started, you don’t have to buy expensive courses; you can get basic information through free training programs from recognized experts.
Moscow Exchange School
The Moscow Exchange is the largest and oldest exchange in our country. She organized her own school, where they teach how to work competently in the financial markets. Teachers are experienced traders who will teach you how to choose profitable objects for investment.
The school has developed several programs for beginners and experienced investors. They are short, include a webinar and additional materials. Free. On the website you can sort programs by level and topic.
Each program has a detailed description, information about the teacher and student reviews.
Opening Broker
Opening Broker offers:
- Full-time training in the form of seminars with live communication or individual lessons with home practical work.
- Distance learning.
There are paid and free formats. For example, the services of a trading trainer are free, but you trade with your own money. The initial capital must be at least 300,000 rubles.
Finam
Finam is a well-known company that includes a broker, a bank, a training center, and a management company. Present in 20 countries around the world. It teaches about 150,000 students per year. Offers face-to-face and online courses.
There are a lot of programs and training formats: paid and free. Here is just a small part from the distance learning section.
BCS Broker
BCS Broker does not lag behind its competitors and also trains novice investors. He created a free online platform, Investing 101. Everything you need to learn investing and trading is in one place. Possibilities:
- more than 20 courses;
- viewing and recording video courses on all necessary topics;
- choice of difficulty level: from beginner to professional;
- testing the degree of mastery of the material;
- training in working on the stock market using a stock simulator;
- chat with the ability to ask questions to the teacher;
- learning anywhere and on any device.
The main advantage is that everything is collected in one place and absolutely free.
Investor School from VTB broker
The Investor School from the VTB broker offers free mini-courses for beginning investors to study:
- We are collecting our first briefcase.
- How to make money on bonds?
- How to win back dividends correctly?
- How and where to find investment ideas in stocks?
- How to check the reliability of a bond?
- Basics of personal capital management.
- Lifehacks in personal finance - 5 ways to save big.
- Market dependencies that work.
- We buy currency on the exchange - techniques and tools.
- How much and how you can earn on gold.
Each course consists of short video lessons and articles.
How to invest – Tinkoff Magazine
And how to invest - a course from Tinkoff Magazine. Designed for beginners, perfect for teenagers. A very interesting presentation of the material in a fun, playful way. The authors do not teach how to speculate, they introduce the basics of long-term and safe investing:
- concepts of shares, bonds, individual investment insurance, ETF, dividends, etc.;
- investment strategies, risks and real returns;
- choosing a broker;
- taxation of investments and much more.
After each lesson there will be a test to check your understanding of the material, and at the end of the training there will be an exam. Each subsequent lesson opens only after completing the previous one.
I can confidently recommend this online course. My eldest daughter passed it at the age of 18 and announced that she was opening her own brokerage account. A year later, there are already more than 100,000 rubles on it, because she transfers part of her small income to an account and buys securities. Even in the crisis of 2022, the portfolio has more than 12% annual return. Not a bad result for a beginner who is just studying in the 1st year of university.
Investments for beginners – Finarium
Investing for Beginners - a free online course for beginning investors. Consists of 10 lessons (video lessons), after each - a screening test. The program includes the following questions:
- concepts of investment, savings and speculation;
- types of investments;
- concepts of profitability and risk;
- investment portfolio and its diversification.
After completing the course, you can take your first steps in investing, because you will already know all types of investment instruments, the risks and returns associated with them, and learn to avoid typical mistakes of beginners.
ABC of Finance – Lectorium
ABC of Finance is a free program for beginning investors. Consists of 29 video lectures, test assignments and a final test. After passing the test, you can receive a personal certificate from the Lectorium.
Course program:
- About investments and savings.
- Investor qualities.
- Financial instruments. Risk, return and liquidity.
- Fundamentals of forming an investment portfolio, forecasting changes.
- Goal strategies. Parameters of short-term and long-term investment.
- Drawing up a personal financial plan.
“Lemon for tea” by Evgeniy Kovalenko
Lemon for tea is not only a popular Telegram channel, but also a mini-course on investments for beginners. The author of both is Evgeniy Kovalenko. The course is free and consists of 3 lessons and two tests.
After completing it, a novice investor will understand how the investment mechanism works, whether it is worth pursuing and how to take the first steps. All terms are explained in simple language. During the course you will not hear about financial pyramids, Forex, PAMM accounts and options.
Red compass
Website : https://red-circule.com/.
Telephone: 8-495-150-58-69.
Cost : 60,000 rubles
Duration : 20 lessons, 2 hours each.
"Universal Trader"
Study fundamental and technical analysis, learn how to create a personal financial plan. The course is suitable for those who are already familiar with the basics of investing.
Advantages:
- After training for 1 month, the mentor will help in working on the stock exchange.
- Teacher Artem Khachatryan - Candidate of Economic Sciences, wrote the book “Successful Investments in the Stock Market: How to Make Money on Stocks”, has been working in the stock market for 15 years.
Training program:
- You will analyze investor tools in detail, learn about algorithms, and learn how to conduct analysis.
- You will learn where to start trading, how to work on technical analysis and conduct trading operations. Learn trader's tools, master trading models for investing in futures, oil, Russian and US stocks.
- Learn to plan personal expenses and income, optimize your budget and reduce taxes. Learn how to reduce risks.
Other courses:
- Investing in the cryptocurrency market.
- Using ETFs in Investment Strategies.
- Investing in foreign markets and others.
Author's opinion
Vladimir Khomutetsky
I help you understand education, write about courses and online schools.
Took the course “Fundamentals of Financial Analysis”, speaker Denis Maslennikov. An excellent base for fundamental analysis. After the course, you understand how to read reports, how to select companies in which to invest, and what affects the price of shares. Everything is accessible and convenient. Top marks!
Reviews about the school
Students had problems accessing the course and video quality. In general, the reviews are positive, noting the free introductory lessons and the large amount of knowledge gained. More details here: https://otzovik.com/reviews/shkola_moskovskoy_birzhi_krasniy_cirkul_russia_moscow/.
Vladimir Savenok School
Website : https://edu.lk-school.ru/.
Telephone: 8-495-625-35-03.
Cost : 9,900 rubles if paid no later than three days before the start of the course, then 12,900 rubles.
Duration : 20 days.
"Investing for Beginners"
The program does not require special initial skills. All classes are practice based. You will learn how to choose a broker, analyze bonds and stocks, and create your investment portfolio.
Advantages:
- Teachers are practicing investors with over 7 years of experience. The author, Vladimir Savenok, has been investing for 25 years, teaches at the Moscow State University Higher School of Economics, is a Forbes Contributor and a speaker at the Private Money investment forum.
- Feedback from the course author.
- Intensive financial management as a gift.
Training program:
- Introduction: Learn to set goals.
- Basics: Define your investment profile, understand basic investment concepts, and become familiar with the criteria for choosing a broker.
- Funds: learn about the types and methods of investing in funds, understand the differences between mutual funds and ETFs.
- Bonds: get acquainted with the types and methods of valuation, analyze common mistakes when investing in bonds.
- Stocks: learn about risks and returns, multipliers and financial statements of companies.
- Investment portfolio: learn about the rules of creation and learn how to rebalance.
Other courses : “Personal Finance Management Intensive” and “Calculating Stock Value.”
Reviews about the course
Found only on the official website, added as screenshots. Therefore, trust it or not - decide for yourself. They note quick feedback, structured material and a large amount of new knowledge.
Coursera & Higher School of Economics
Coursera creates training courses only with trusted universities and educational organizations. Specialists from the National Research University Higher School of Economics talk about investments. Courses in video lecture format are free and you can watch them at any convenient time.
Personal finance management
This course will help you get your personal finances in order and understand how to manage them. Only after this can you proceed to investing.
Students will learn to distribute capital among three elements: current, insurance and investment, and will also learn everything about investment risks and profitability. The course will help you build an investment strategy that will match your life goals.
The training is conducted by Andrey Berzon, professor, Doctor of Economics. The course lasts approximately 11 hours.
Investments in bonds
This course is a continuation of the previous one. It takes a closer look at one of the investment instruments – bonds.
Listeners will learn what types of these securities exist, how much they can cost, and how exactly they generate income. The course examines real examples from the market. After training, students will be able to build a strategy for investing in bonds depending on their preferences.
The course lasts about 21 hours, it is taught by Andrey Stolyarov, Candidate of Economic Sciences.
Alteco
Website : https://alteco-school.ru/.
Cost : “Standard” package 19,800 rubles at a discount, 28,000 without a discount, “VIP” 39,800 rubles at a discount, 45,000 without a discount, “Personal practice with Alexander Kozhevnikov” 89,800 rubles at a discount, 190,000 without a discount. There is an installment plan for 12 months and a 13% refund in the form of a tax deduction.
Duration : 1.5 months.
"Constructor of modern investments"
Learn to control your budget and invest. Suitable for beginners without specialized knowledge. Alteco promises that after the course you will be able to assemble a portfolio that will bring in more than 100,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- The author Alexander Kozhevnikov is the founder of the Alteco school, he has been working in the financial market for 13 years.
- Mentoring and feedback.
- Access to the course remains forever.
- A certificate upon completion of training, assistance with choosing a broker and a ready-made portfolio for student plans for VIP and individual tariffs.
- If you don’t like the course within two weeks, the school will return the money
Training program:
- Learn to work with a budget and control finances.
- Learn how to set goals using SMART technology.
- Understand conservative investment tools.
- Learn more about stocks, dividends, blue chips, ETFs and mutual funds. Master value investing through fundamental analysis.
- Learn to invest in cryptocurrency, mining, IPO and ICO.
- Learn how to properly form an investment portfolio.
- Explore ways to protect against inflation and options for making money during a crisis.
- Understand which strategies and investments are not working.
- Learn how to properly file reports, declarations and reduce your taxes.
Other courses : free marathon “How to manage your money and make money on investments.”
Reviews about the course
Found only on the school’s official VKontakte page. They are all similar to each other. Thanks for the fast work of the curators and mentors, the structure of the course and the opportunity to start investing from scratch. To trust or not - decide for yourself.
Skillbox & Moscow Exchange: “Personal Investments”
This is a course that will allow you to avoid reading endless articles on the Internet and collecting information bit by bit - it has everything for a novice investor. The price is appropriate - 39,200 rubles, but there is an installment plan. Lessons are held online.
The course was recorded jointly with specialists from the Moscow Exchange, a Russian organizer of trading in stocks, bonds, currencies and other investment objects. The creators have provided many checklists, reminders and cheat sheets from exchange specialists. All these tools will help you analyze documents and reports of brokers and companies.
At the end of the course, the student will receive structured knowledge about investing and a ready-made personal investment plan.
Access to training materials remains forever - you can return to lessons from time to time and refresh your knowledge.
What's next
The cost and program of courses and schools differ greatly from each other. To make your choice easier, we have compiled a step-by-step plan.
- Determine your level of knowledge. If you don’t know what bonds, an investment portfolio and a broker are, then you should pay attention to courses for beginners. Many schools offer free training in which you will learn basic financial instruments and how to work with them.
- If you're already familiar with investing and want to improve your knowledge and income, take a look at our advanced courses. It should include technical and fundamental analysis, work with foreign brokers.
- When choosing paid courses, pay attention to the cost, the availability of installments and the possibility of a 13% tax refund. Find out if a return is possible and when.
- Look for independent constructive feedback from various sources, some of which you can find in the article.
- If you are still not sure, then take courses with free trial lessons. This way you will understand the teaching format and the level of the school.
- Be careful if the school asks you to link your card. If you don't like the course, you will need to cancel your subscription.
Have you taken one of these courses? Share your opinion. Or have you taken other cool courses? Tell us about them!
What should investors know?
Learning to invest is a long, lifelong learning process, and even the most successful investors in the world continue to continually learn.
Long term investing is the best way
As I mentioned, the stock market has historically generated total returns in the 10% range for investors over long periods of time.
However, in short periods of time everything is completely different. Shares of even ultra-stable companies can fluctuate wildly in the short term. The S&P 500 recently lost and then rose 37%. Trying to time short-term market movements is almost always a losing battle.
Investing for the long term through a buy and hold strategy is the surest way to create wealth. Leave intraday and other short-term trading methods to the professionals.
Pay attention to corrections
Nobody likes to see the value of their investment go down. Market corrections can be very strong, but they are also the best long-term opportunities to buy new stocks.
If you're investing for the long term, looking at corrections the right way is like having a sale at your favorite store. If you were shopping and suddenly you heard an announcement that everything in the store was 25% off, would you panic and run away? Of course not! So why would you avoid buying in the stock market when the exact same situation is happening there?
Don't be afraid to sell
While long-term investing is the best way to invest your capital in stocks, it doesn't mean you have to hold on to every stock you buy for decades.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett once said:
All you need to do to invest is pick good stocks during good times and stay with them as long as they remain good companies.
Pay special attention to the last part of the sentence. There are many reasons to get rid of a stock, especially if something changes in the market. For example, a company may begin to borrow excessively, and this may be a good time to revalue their shares.
Don't invest money in a business you don't understand
I don't understand the biotech business well, so you won't find any of these stocks in my portfolio. Warren Buffett doesn't know much about tech companies, so he tends to avoid them.
If I can't clearly explain what a company does, how it makes money, and how it can grow, I won't invest in it. If you look at the list of stocks I own, you'll notice that the number of stocks in the financial sector is disproportionately high, and for good reason. These are the companies I understand best, which is why I invest most of my money in them.
Don't follow the crowd
Our emotions often get the better of us, and this is especially true when it comes to investing. When we see all our friends making money on Bitcoin, that's when we want to invest our money. Conversely, when we see commentators and analysts panicking and stock prices falling, that's when we tend to sell before things get worse.
It is common knowledge that the basic idea of investing is to buy low and sell high, but our instincts make us do the exact opposite. In fact, most investors' returns fall below the market over time. The reason for this is that they overreact to news and make emotional decisions.
Consider the difference between investing and speculation
It is important to understand the difference between investing and speculation. If you buy a stock and you can prove that it will triple in the next few days or weeks, you are speculating. Speculation is synonymous with "gambling". Don't play with the money you need.
You can allocate 20% of your portfolio to speculation and invest 80% of your portfolio in stocks that have a high probability of steady but continuous growth.