Learn Investing Basics Free

Money & Business

Start with Using Your Money To Be Happier (21 min, Ben Felix), then Investing 101 (20 min, Ben Felix). All 162 lessons here are free, from the teachers' own official uploads. You'll need laptop stand, noise-cancelling headphones, second monitor and a few more basics (about $270 of kit). The book to keep beside you: The Simple Path to Wealth by J. L. Collins.

What you'll need

• Laptop stand: Screen at eye level for long study sessions.
• Noise-cancelling headphones: Focus through long video lessons.
• Second monitor: Video on one screen, practice on the other.
• Wireless keyboard and mouse: Comfortable for hours of typing.

Lessons

• Using Your Money To Be Happier (21 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Investing 101 (20 min, Ben Felix, Beginner)
• The Most Controversial Paper in Finance (23 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Problem with Private Markets (26 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Case for Index Funds (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Five Factor Investing with ETFs (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Investing in the S&P 500 (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Biggest Problem in Investing Right Now (22 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Irrelevance of Dividends (12 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• How to Fund an Early Retirement (Beyond the 4% Rule) (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Reasons to Avoid Index Funds (9 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Rise of ETF Slop (19 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Lecture 13: Portfolio Management (81 min, MIT OpenCourseWare, Intermediate)
• A Different Perspective on Ramsey-Style Investing Advice (12 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Choosing an Asset Allocation (How Much in Stocks vs. Bonds?) (13 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Renting vs Buying a Home: How to Decide (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Index Fund "Tipping Point" (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Most Important Quotes in Investing (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Problem With Index Funds (19 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• "What About Warren Buffett?" (12 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Why Index Funds Aren't Breaking the Stock Market (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Will Retirement Even Exist For Millennials? | Asked & Answered (43 min, The Financial Diet, Intermediate)
• 11 Investing Lessons From a Crazy Year (2025) (19 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• How Much Money Is Actually Enough? (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• How the Fed's "Money Printer" Really Works (18 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• If Index Funds Won, Why Do We Still Need Advisors? (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Renting vs. Buying a Home: The Reckoning (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• "Sequence of Returns Risk" (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• SpaceX IPO Situation is Crazy (20 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Case for Going Beyond Plain Index Funds (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Problem with Equal Weight Index Funds (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• This Paper Could Change How You Invest (19 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• What to Do When the Stock Market Drops (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• When Compounding Works Against You (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Why Thematic ETFs Usually Underperform the Market (13 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Canada's New Evidence-Based ETFs (21 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Covered Calls: A Devil's Bargain (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• International Diversification (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Market Crashes (2025 Edition) (10 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• SpaceX and OpenAI: The Mega IPO Grift (19 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The 2.7% Rule for Retirement Spending (13 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Pattern Behind Every Tech Investing Boom (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Relevance of Dividend Irrelevance (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Risk of (Individual) Stocks (19 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• What Warren Buffett's Fans Get Wrong About Him (12 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Comparing U.S. Equity ETFs: VTI vs. DFUS (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Covered Calls: What People (Still) Get Wrong (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Dimensional (DFA) vs. Vanguard (16 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Early Retirement in His 40s with the Duplex and Triplex “Formula” (29 min, BiggerPockets, Intermediate)
• In Search of the Ultimate Inflation Hedge (17 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Our Top 10 Most-Asked Investing Questions, Answered (27 min, The Financial Diet, Intermediate)
• Stocks, Bonds, and War (12 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• What "Risk" Actually Means in Investing (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Who Should NOT Invest in Total Market Index Funds? (9 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Why Green Investing May Cost You More Than You Think (15 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• 20 Years of Renting vs. Buying a Home in Canada (2005 to 2024) (21 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Dividend Growth Investing (11 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• Everything You Need to Know About Investing (12 min, The Financial Diet, Beginner)
• Renting vs. Buying a Home: The Case for Owning (26 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)
• The Truth About Investing at All-Time Highs (9 min, Ben Felix, Intermediate)

Books on Investing Basics

1. The Simple Path to Wealth by J. L. Collins - View on Amazon
2. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle - View on Amazon
3. A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel - View on Amazon
4. The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore - View on Amazon