Capital One & Khan Academy’s free financial literacy course

Everyone deserves to feel confident, capable and in control when it comes to their money, and financial literacy is one key to making that a reality. But high-quality financial education isn’t always accessible or affordable.

That’s why Capital One and Khan Academy bring a free financial literacy course to anyone who wants to demystify personal finance and get one step closer to financial well-being.

What you’ll learn:

• Khan Academy is a leader in online learning whose mission is to provide a free, world‑class education for anyone, anywhere.

• The Khan Academy financial literacy course is self-paced and completely free.

• The course is made up of multiple units, each with its own lessons, covering topics like budgeting, saving, credit, investments, insurance, taxes, scams, fraud and more.

Financial literacy is all about understanding and applying concepts like budgeting, saving and managing debt to make informed decisions. If you’re a beginner, that can mean taking control of your money by mastering healthy spending habits and understanding how credit and debt impact your financial standing. Once these basics are in place, effective financial planning might extend to more advanced credit management and investments.

Taking time to learn could help you achieve financial well-being and navigate economic challenges with confidence.

Khan Academy’s financial literacy course breaks down complex financial concepts into self-paced, easy-to-understand units. You’ll learn about everything from budgeting and saving to credit, debt, retirement planning and more.

The units are designed to give you the skills and tools you need to take charge of your finances. Each unit is made up of individual lessons that include engaging instructional videos, articles and exercises—all in one easy-to-access online platform. There are also unit tests and a course mastery challenge.

The entire course is self-paced. You can pick and choose the units you want to complete or go through the entire course. You can also take the units in any order you want. And remember, it’s completely free for everyone. 

Here’s an overview of the course units:

Unit 1 provides an introduction to the course and helps you discover how you may be able to take your finances to the next level with practical tips and step-by-step guidance. It includes this lesson: 

1. Intro to financial literacy

Do you know how to design and balance a budget? What about the 50-30-20 budgeting rule? Whether you’re looking to pay off debt, save for a rainy day or just want to be more in control of your money, Unit 2 may help you learn how to budget and save like an expert. It covers three lessons:

1. Budgeting

2. Reducing expenses

3. Saving money

Understanding credit is an essential part of making smart financial decisions. Find out how to use credit to your advantage with these three lessons in Unit 3: 

1. Credit score 

2. Credit cards

3. Payment methods

In Unit 4, explore the importance of setting clear, achievable goals that help pave the way for a stable financial future. Plus, learn how to prioritize your financial aspirations, create actionable plans and stay committed to your progress. This unit includes five lessons: 

1. Money personality 

2. Charitable giving

3. SMART goals

4. Short-, medium- and long-term goals

5. Net worth

The world of loans and debt can feel overwhelming. Unit 5 breaks down the complexities of borrowing money to help you make smart decisions about debt. That way, you may transform loans and debt into useful tools for your financial well-being. Check out these five lessons: 

1. Borrowing money 

2. Types of loans

3. Terms of borrowing 

4. Debt

5. Bankruptcy

Insurance can be a complex topic. There are so many types of insurance to know about—not to mention all the insurance jargon you have to decode. But insurance plays a vital role in safeguarding your financial future. And it’s crucial that you know how to make informed decisions about insurance. Unit 6 includes these nine lessons: 

1. What is risk and how to manage it 

2. Insurance basics and terminology 

3. Health insurance options and costs

4. Disability and long-term care insurance 

5. Life insurance 

6. Property insurance options and costs 

7. Car insurance options and cost 

8. Supplemental insurance and warranties 

9. Estate planning and legal instruments

In Unit 7, dive into different investment options and strategies so you can try to grow and secure wealth for the long term. Find out how to harness the power of investing to help achieve financial freedom and help set yourself up for a fulfilling, worry-free retirement. This unit includes five lessons: 

1. Introduction to saving and investing 

2. Risk and return of investment options

3. Planning for retirement 

4. Saving for retirement

5. Investing

Scammers are always evolving and coming up with new ways to trick people out of their money. Unit 8 covers different types of scams, red flags to watch out for and ways to help protect yourself from becoming a victim, with these four lessons: 

1. How to protect your personal information

2. Common scams

3. Contracts

4. Consumer protection agencies

Investing in your career and education is an important part of helping yourself succeed and reach your goals. Learning new skills and information may open up opportunities for better jobs and a brighter future. Unit 9 covers five lessons: 

1. Education and earnings

2. College, post-secondary education and training 

3. Cost of post-secondary education and training 

4. Choosing where to go

5. Paying for post-secondary education

Figuring out taxes on your own can be daunting. Unit 10 provides practical tips and step-by-step instructions to simplify complex tax information so you may confidently manage your taxes. Explore the fundamentals of taxes, including the different types of income, how they’re taxed and key tax forms like the W-2, 1099 and 1098, in these five lessons:

1. What are taxes? 

2. Tax forms

3. Personal taxes

4. Federal income taxes

5. Filing a tax return

Unit 11 teaches you how to understand your pay and benefits and the importance of comparing job offers. You’ll also learn about different types of jobs and how to read your paycheck after all deductions have been taken out. It covers six lessons:

1. Understanding your pay

2. Compensation: More than pay

3. Nontypical pay structures 

4. Hiring process: Forms and documents 

5. Paycheck

6. Unemployment

Whether it’s depositing your paycheck, managing daily expenses, saving for future goals or navigating financial emergencies, understanding banking is critical. Unit 12 provides insights into these six banking lessons: 

1. Banking and financial institutions

2. Understanding bank accounts

3. Tracking, reconciling and more

4. Banking regulations and agencies 

5. Interest: From savings to investing 

6. Inflation

In Unit 13, you’ll learn how to prepare for buying a car, with these five lessons: 

1. Car buying experience

2. Car loans 

3. Owning vs. leasing 

4. Additional costs of car ownership 

5. Dealer sales strategies

Whether you’re thinking about renting or buying, understanding housing is essential. Explore how to budget for living costs, the ins and outs of different types of housing, and how to navigate rental agreements and the home buying process. Unit 14 explores these four lessons: 

1. Renting vs. homeownership 

2. Finding your next home 

3. Lease agreements 

4. Mortgages

Unit 15 is a comprehensive guide for teaching the Financial Literacy course. It covers the following lessons:

1. Welcome to teacher resources

2. About this unit: Budgeting and saving

3. About this unit: Consumer credit 

4. About this unit: Financial goals

5. About this unit: Loans and debt

6. About this unit: Insurance

7. About this unit: Investments and retirement 

8. About this unit: Scams & fraud

9. About this unit: Taxes and tax forms 

10. About this unit: Employment

11. About this unit: Banking

12. About this unit: Car buying 

13. About this unit: Housing

This final unit is packed with even more articles and videos to help you improve your financial literacy. Unit 16 covers 10 lessons: 

1. About this unit

2. Saving and budgeting

3. Interest and debt

4. Investments and retirement 

5. Pay and benefits 

6. Taxes 

7. Housing

8. Car buying and leasing 

9. Paying for college

10. How blockchain works

Capital One has even more tools and resources to help you stay on top of your money and reach your financial goals:

• CreditWise from Capital One: With CreditWise, you can access your credit report and credit score at any time without hurting your credit scores. You can even explore the potential impact of financial decisions before you make them with the CreditWise Credit Simulator. CreditWise is free, even if you’re not a Capital One cardholder. You can also visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get free copies of your credit reports from all three major credit bureaus.

• Credit cards for building credit: Explore Capital One credit cards for fair credit and building credit, student credit cards and secured credit cards. When used responsibly, a credit card is one tool you can use to build or rebuild credit.

• Pre-approval: Find out whether you’re pre-approved for a Capital One credit card before you apply. It’s quick and only requires some basic information. And it won’t affect your credit scores.