Early Life Investments
A Family Financial Head Start
“The best time to build lifelong money habits is when you are young. The second-best time is today.”
“The best time to build lifelong money habits is when you are young. The second-best time is today.”
Curated Resources
Curated outside resources for financial education, budgeting, banking, investing, credit, and taxes. These links support the Early Life Investments curriculum without replacing it.
— Series One —
Free and credible outside resources for students, parents, teachers, and self-learners.
These links point to outside educational resources. They are included because they can help families and learners build background knowledge. Early Life Investments remains focused on practical family application: lessons, worksheets, book reviews, discussion guides, and tools that help readers act on what they learn.
fdic.gov
Age-appropriate financial education curricula for pre-K through 12th grade, including educator guides, student handouts, slides, lessons, and parent/caregiver support.
Visit Site →fdic.gov
Instructor-led curriculum for young adults that covers practical money management, banking relationships, budgeting, savings, and financial confidence.
Visit Site →ngpf.org
Free, teacher-vetted personal finance curriculum for grades 6-12. Useful for classrooms, homeschool planning, and parents looking for structured lesson ideas.
Visit Site →everfi.com
Free high school financial literacy course covering budgeting, credit, banking, financial planning, and real-world money decisions.
Visit Site →intuit.com
Free educational simulations and classroom resources connected to real-world topics such as taxes, credit, budgeting, accounting, and entrepreneurship. Included as an educational resource, not a product endorsement.
Visit Site →mymoney.gov
Federal financial literacy portal with resources and tools for making informed money decisions across life stages, including youth and military-family resources.
Visit Site →investor.gov
SEC investor education site with plain-language resources on investing basics, fees, fraud avoidance, compound interest, 529 plans, and checking investment professionals.
Visit Site →consumerfinance.gov
Parent-friendly activities and conversation starters for teaching children money habits at different ages and developmental stages.
Visit Site →studentaid.gov
The official federal source for FAFSA, grants, loans, repayment plans, and student-aid basics. Useful for families planning college costs and young adults managing student debt.
Visit Site →— Series Two —
Broad reference sites for definitions, background reading, and deeper investing concepts.
investopedia.com
The first place to look up any finance term you don’t recognize. Definitions, worked examples, and short tutorials — without a paywall.
Visit Site →khanacademy.org
Sal Khan’s free personal-finance video series — covers taxes, mortgages, retirement accounts, and investing in calm, no-jargon terms.
Visit Site →bogleheads.org
The community wiki built around John Bogle’s low-cost index investing philosophy. The “getting started” page alone is worth a weekend read.
Visit Site →— Series Three —
Apps and tools for tracking where the money actually goes.
youneedabudget.com
Subscription-based but worth it for many people. Forces you to give every dollar a job before you spend it.
Visit Site →everydollar.com
Dave Ramsey’s zero-based budgeting app. Free tier is perfectly usable; paid tier adds bank syncing.
Visit Site →monarchmoney.com
A polished Mint replacement — tracks accounts, budgets, net worth, and investments in one place.
Visit Site →— Series Four —
Where we keep checking, savings, and emergency funds.
ally.com
Long-running online bank with consistently competitive savings rates, free transfers, and no minimums.
Visit Site →discover.com
Solid no-fee checking, competitive savings, and well-known cash-back credit cards under one roof.
Visit Site →nerdwallet.com
A regularly-updated table of the best high-yield savings rates. Check this once a year and switch if needed.
Visit Site →— Series Five —
Brokerages, custodial accounts, and 529 college plans.
fidelity.com
No-minimum index funds, excellent custodial / Roth IRA setup, and free trades.
Visit Site →vanguard.com
The home of low-cost index investing. VTI, VXUS, BND are the building blocks of countless boring, beautiful portfolios.
Visit Site →schwab.com
Excellent customer service and a strong lineup of low-cost index funds.
Visit Site →savingforcollege.com
The reference for comparing 529 plans state-by-state. Their plan-finder tool is excellent.
Visit Site →morningstar.com
Independent fund research, ratings, and screener. Use the free pages to dig into expense ratios.
Visit Site →empower.com
Free dashboard that aggregates every account into one net-worth view. The retirement planner alone is worth signing up for.
Visit Site →— Series Six —
Free monitoring, official sources, and the IRS.
annualcreditreport.com
The only credit-report site authorized by federal law. You can pull all three bureaus weekly — for free.
Visit Site →creditkarma.com
Free credit-score monitoring (TransUnion and Equifax). Useful for tracking how on-time payments move your number.
Visit Site →irs.gov
When in doubt about a tax rule, go straight to the source. Publication 590-A and 970 are the references we use most.
Visit Site →