Considering proposing Community Ed Class on Financial Independence

[hettie1]

I think this is the right place for this question (sorry if not!).

I'm thinking of doing something way out of my comfort zone :#.

Every semester I go through the local community education classes offered and notice that there is only one on finance/retirement.  It is taught by a certified financial planer who advertises that she actively manages funds (so I assume she uses the class to get new customers) and it always has a waitlist.

I want an alternative for our community to teach people to manage their money themselves so was thinking of stepping up myself and submitting a proposal to teach a class. (eeeek!)

Has anyone done anything similar before?  If so, any suggestions?  If you had two hours to share on financial independence, what would you want to share?!  Broad question but I need help narrowing down ideas for a good proposal!

[Car Jack]

I'd want to share that it's actually simple, not rocket science and that Fidelity did a study of their 401k owners and found that the people who did the absolute best.....by far.....were dead.  Can't get more simple than having dead people do well, right?

So topics.....I don't know.....

1) Live below your means and save.  You can't invest if you don't save any money.
2) Investment classes: US Equities, US Bonds, International Equities, International Bonds.
3) Asset allocations.  Rules of thumb to start.  What each asset class does.
4) Costs: When choosing a fund, past performance matters zero.  Cost matters 100%.  Active management is for suckers.
5) Target Date Index Funds.  For those who don't want to even do as much as dead people do.
6) Rebalancing.  What is it.  Why do it.  How to figure out when to do it.

Maybe not in that order.  Keep is short and simple as possible.  Build the course as if you have only 1 hour.  So like 10 minutes each topic.  If the class is 2 hours, the rest is for questions and answers.

[nereo]

I like the idea of stressing that it's actually very easy to manage your own money.

Trying to get your typical person to accept that FI/RE is a real possibility in a 2 hour format is going to be very tricky and you're bound to get a lot of blowback from people who are convinced its impossible.  I wouldn't talk about early retirement at all in a one-off lecture.  Instead I'd focus on the very basics which Car Jack has already laid out.

Finally, provide them with a curated list of sources for each sub-topic that aren't intimidating.  JL Collins Stock series.  Some links to Vanguard.  etc.  People might leave jazzed about how easy it is to manage their own finances, but without references they'll soon forget and have a lot of questions.

[SwordGuy]

It's really important that you check state and federal laws about giving financial advice for money.   I'm assuming you'll be paid by the school to teach this class, so that may qualify.

A quick google search for "laws against giving financial advice" found a number of plausibly relevant articles for the US market.

This is for your protection against being sued, fined or imprisoned, so learning the relevant rules and NEVER breaking them is rather important.

[hettie1]

Thank you so much for the ideas!! This gets me going in the right direction for sure.
@SwordGuy  - good point! I would be doing it for free, but I should double check as the city usually charges participants a small fee at least for all classes to cover location cost. I will definitely double check!

[MrThatsDifferent]

It's really important that you check state and federal laws about giving financial advice for money.   I'm assuming you'll be paid by the school to teach this class, so that may qualify.

A quick google search for "laws against giving financial advice" found a number of plausibly relevant articles for the US market.

This is for your protection against being sued, fined or imprisoned, so learning the relevant rules and NEVER breaking them is rather important.

You include the general caveats that you are not giving financial advice, you’re not an advisor, you’re providing your perspective on things you’ve learned and sharing resources, while encouraging people to do their own research and seek the advice of professionals as needed. Just be honest and transparent and never make promises or oversell who you are and what you’re doing.

[SwordGuy]

It's really important that you check state and federal laws about giving financial advice for money.   I'm assuming you'll be paid by the school to teach this class, so that may qualify.

A quick google search for "laws against giving financial advice" found a number of plausibly relevant articles for the US market.

This is for your protection against being sued, fined or imprisoned, so learning the relevant rules and NEVER breaking them is rather important.

You include the general caveats that you are not giving financial advice, you’re not an advisor, you’re providing your perspective on things you’ve learned and sharing resources, while encouraging people to do their own research and seek the advice of professionals as needed. Just be honest and transparent and never make promises or oversell who you are and what you’re doing.

I believe that is correct (but do not KNOW it is correct) for the US market.

I do not know what additional rules, if any, exist in each of the states and territories and cities and counties in the US.

The OP didn't say which set of laws would apply to them, so I don't want to assume anything.  Nor should they.