This equation may be finance but this is not finance for everyone. Understanding finance is less about math and money than it is about people. Finance can scare people off with its terminology and, yes, its occasionally big complex equations. But I believe it's just as important for us to develop our financial literacy as it is for us to understand our physical health. These things are central to our capacity to be good citizens and our ability to guide and manage our lives. When financial experts talk, most people just hear noise, and often, the parts we do understand are scary. The global world of finances is a worrisome place. Few of us understand why financial news can suddenly change the value of our life savings. Or how a financial meltdown can turn into a crisis that destroys entire economies. Or how something that can seem so distant beyond our control can have such a real impact on our jobs, our homes, and our families. The flip side is that anyone can build a deep understanding of finance in a way that can influence some of the big decisions related to money. There are simple truths about finance that have remained unchanged over long periods of time, and following these truths can lead to the kind of good financial decisions that lead to prosperity. That's where we're headed in this course. I'm [INAUDIBLE] and I will be your instructor for finance for everyone. Finance for everyone deals with financial knowledge and skills that are universal. Everyone on earth must at some point decide about how we intend to raise and spend our money. How are going to manage our money or more to the point, how are we going to avoid mismanaging it? These decisions about money are not only timeless, but also applicable across geographical, cultural and social status boundaries. And if you aren't intimidated by the math and the jargon, it's not all that difficult to understand the concepts to make good, evidence-based financial decisions. So our first lesson about understanding finance is keeping it simple, which means less is going to be more. That is, deep planning about a few big financial issues is going to be far more valuable than a superficial understanding or a lot of little stuff. Finance for everyone speaks to financial decisions made by people in various households, companies, and governments. But instead of segregating personal, public and corporate financial decisions, finance for everyone asks questions related to where money comes from, how can it be spent to meet your goals, and how you can manage your money responsibly. In our age of globalization where, for example, financial events in Greece have an immediate impact on the rest of the world, where excessive leverage and personal, corporate, and public borrowing are increasingly linked. And where the social and environmental side of financial decisions need to be discussed as a whole. Finance for everyone differentiates itself from traditional, conventional forces. For example, decisions to use financial instruments like stocks and bonds, mortgages and loans, or insurance and derivative products, serve a broader role than we often consider. Normally we think of these things as making or losing money. Or we might say value. If you own a stock that goes up, the value of your holding increases. But there's more to the world of finance than just value. All of these financial instruments also impact our standard of living. For example, income inequality, or wealth generation, and environmental degradation. Finance is about more than numbers, it's about life. Let's take that one step further. Finance, and responsible global citizenship are often seen as mutually exclusive. In fact that's mythology, but you have to have money people on one side of a big divide, and the global citizens on the other side. Like these two concepts are natural enemies, like cats and dogs. In finance for everyone, we challenge this thinking by helping you to develop your own financial literacy along with the confidence to translate financial knowledge into action. When you read a news headline about an important and complex financial issue or event, you will be able to critically evaluate the wider consequences and have greater confidence in your own abilities to make informed financial decisions. Your financial literacy will help you become a better citizen. Now before we begin, I want to assure you that we are not assuming that you have any prior financial knowledge. However, we do hope that you will draw on your experience that comes from a very wide variety of professional and culture backgrounds. And that you will contribute your diverse and varied experiences to add significantly to your learning. To complete this specialization, you must take four courses titled decisions, markets, value, and debt. The four courses will culminate in a capstone project that connects you with your fellow learners as you develop your own skills and help others to benefit from your actions and insights, as you benefit from theirs. I'm really looking forward to working with you and thank you very much for joining us in Finance for Everyone.
