Confused by financial matters? Money to invest, but too frightened or busy to ask an expert to explain?
If you have access to the internet, there's no excuse for financial ignorance. A growing number of websites offer courses aimed at private investors, students and finance professionals - indeed anyone who wants to develop their financial expertise or get their finances in order.
This week, for example, Motley Fool launched a three-week interactive course teaching investors how to plan and secure the finances they need for their retirement.
"People are perfectly capable of managing their own finances," says Nat Price, the Fool's online seminar director. "But until now there has been little in the way of education or informative materials and typically it's been provided by organisations looking to sell financial products.
"We've produced this seminar so that people, no matter what their age, sex or financial position, can make a plan for their retirement and put it into action."
The three-week seminar, which costs £30, consists of 10 virtual lessons. At the end of the course, participants will have their own individual retirement plans and understand everything from the relative merits of state, occupational and personal pensions through to Isas, share buying, funds and trackers.
"Many people assume that pensions are the best or only way to save for retirement," says the Fool's spokesman. "But this is simply not the case. One of the keys to the course will be weighing up all the alternatives to make an informed choice."
Participants are organised into virtual teams and assigned a dedicated online discussion board. Supported by Motley Fool tutors, each team will be encouraged to apply the lesson theory to a series of practical group homework assignments.
Stock Academy, an online stockbroker, has its own education centre. It has just introduced a workshop on reading the financial pages to help both novice and regular investors to gain advantages in the stock market.
The free 40-minute workshop identifies what to look for in the financial press, where to find it, when it is published and how to interpret the information.
An optional assessment test is also available to participants wishing to test their knowledge. And as the final self-assessment deadlines loom, a separate workshop on basic taxation teaches investors how to minimise capital gains, inheritance and income tax on their earnings and capital.
Again, participants can choose to take an optional exam at the end. Stock Academy offers 20 other workshops which provide introductory, intermediate and advanced-level information taught with the help of video clips, interactive spreadsheets, interviews, recommended reading, relevant articles and weblinks and comprehensive financial glossaries.
One of the most experienced online educators is Wide Learning. Founded in 1997, the company has built up a client base of more than 70 blue-chip organisations, including BP Amoco and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
But private investors can also access 50 hours of financial learning on the web. The courses are highly interactive and content covers basic finance and investment topics. Each course lasts between 30 and 90 minutes and contains animations, interactive exercises and self-assessments. Some cost less than £10 for 30 days' access.
