# Financial Management: Money for adolescents

> Higher Education · ibl.ai
> Source: https://ibl.ai/courses/higher-education/money101
> Last updated: 2026-11-14

*Earn it. Keep it. Grow it. Before you turn sixteen.*

**A higher education course from ibl.ai (self-paced, free).** A self-paced money course for middle schoolers: where money really comes from, how to stop it disappearing, and how to make small, legal, smart investments that grow while you sleep.

- **Price:** Free
- **Format:** Self-paced, online
- **Pace:** 2 hours per week
- **Level:** Beginner
- **Language:** English
- **Subject:** Financial Literacy

[Enroll](https://lms.ibl.ai/platform/highereducation/courses/course-v1:highereducation+MONEY101+self-paced)

## Course description

Most people learn about money by losing it. You are going to learn earlier, and cheaper. In five short modules you will meet students who made real money decisions — good ones and painful ones — and you will build your own money plan along the way: a budget that fits a student's pocket, a savings goal with a deadline, and a first, small, completely legal investment. Every lesson starts with a story, asks you one question worth thinking about, and ends with something you can actually do this week.

### About This Course

Money is a skill, not a talent. Nobody is born good at it, and almost nobody is taught it before it starts to matter. This course fixes that, early.

### What You Will Learn

- Where money actually comes from, and how a student can earn some legally.
- How to tell a need from a want before your money is gone.
- How to build a budget and a savings goal that survive real life.
- What investing means, how compound interest works, and which small investments are open to young people.
- How to spot a scam, handle risk, and use money for something that matters.

### Who This Course Is For

Middle school students, and anyone who wants the money basics explained plainly, with stories instead of jargon.

### How It Works

Self-paced. Five modules, short lessons, a quiz at the end of every lesson group. Your grade: 30% homework, 30% checkpoint quizzes, 40% final exam.

## Outline

### Introduction · Your Money Story Starts Here

- Start Here

### Module 1 · Where Money Comes From and Where It Goes

- 1.1 Earning · The First Money You Make
- 1.2 Spending · Needs, Wants and Traps

### Module 2 · Saving, Budgeting and the Art of Waiting

- 2.1 Budgeting · Giving Every Coin a Job
- 2.2 Saving · Paying Your Future Self

### Module 3 · Growing Money: Small, Legal, Smart Investing

- 3.1 Investing · Making Money Work
- 3.2 Money Safety and Final Exam

### Conclusion

- Wrapping Up

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