Welcome to Investing Basics with AI

The Investing Intimidation Problem

Investing has an image problem. It looks like this: a wall of green and red numbers, complicated charts with lines going everywhere, pundits shouting on TV, and jargon designed to make regular people feel stupid.

So most people do one of two things: nothing (their money sits in a savings account losing to inflation) or everything (they follow hot tips and lose money on speculative bets).

Both are wrong. Investing is simpler than the industry makes it appear. And AI makes it accessible.

What to Expect

This course covers investing fundamentals in eight focused lessons. Each lesson builds on the last with clear explanations, practical exercises, and quizzes. No prior investing knowledge is required—we start from zero and build up. Complete the course at your own pace.

How AI Changes Investing for Beginners

AI doesn’t pick stocks for you. It does something more valuable: it makes learning and analysis accessible.

AI doesn’t make you an expert overnight. But it removes every barrier between you and understanding.

The Investing Learning Path

This course follows a natural progression:

CONCEPTS → ANALYSIS → PORTFOLIO → RISK → MARKET → STRATEGY → ACTION
    ↑                                                           │
    └──────────── Review and adjust over time ─────────────────┘

Concepts: What are stocks, bonds, and ETFs? Analysis: How do you evaluate an investment? Portfolio: How do you combine investments wisely? Risk: How much uncertainty can you handle? Market: What drives prices up and down? Strategy: What approach fits your goals? Action: How do you start and maintain your plan?

Each step requires understanding the previous one. Shortcuts lead to costly mistakes.

Setting Up Your Investment AI Workflow

You’ll need:

1. An AI assistant Claude, ChatGPT, or similar. You’ll use it to understand concepts, analyze companies, and build your investment plan.

2. A financial news source Free options work fine: Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, or your broker’s research tools.

3. A spreadsheet For tracking your portfolio, comparing options, and running scenarios.

4. Clear financial goals Why are you investing? Retirement, a house, education, financial freedom? Your goals drive every decision.

What AI Can and Can’t Do for Investors

AI Excels At:

Concept explanation “Explain P/E ratio like I’m 15” gets you a clearer answer than most textbooks.

Financial statement analysis “Break down Apple’s income statement and tell me what stands out” saves hours of manual reading.

Comparison frameworks “Compare index funds vs. individual stocks for a 30-year-old beginner” provides structured analysis.

Scenario modeling “If I invest $500/month for 20 years at 7% average return, what happens?” gets instant math.

Jargon translation “What does ‘dollar-cost averaging’ mean and why would I do it?” gets you practical understanding.

AI Needs Your Help With:

Personal context AI doesn’t know your income, debts, goals, or risk tolerance.

Emotional discipline When markets drop 30%, AI can’t talk you off the ledge. That’s on you.

Future prediction Nobody—human or AI—can reliably predict market movements.

Regulatory compliance Tax implications, account types, and regulations vary by country. Consult a professional.

Important Disclaimer

This course is educational. It teaches you how to think about investing and use AI as a research tool. It is not financial advice. Always consider consulting a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions, especially for significant amounts.

Your First Quick Win

Try this now with your AI assistant:

I'm a complete beginner to investing. Explain these three concepts
in plain language with a real-world analogy for each:

1. What is a stock?
2. What is a bond?
3. What is an ETF?

For each one, tell me: what it is, why someone would buy it,
and what the main risk is. Use everyday language, no jargon.

In two minutes, you’ll understand three fundamental concepts that confuse most beginners.

What You’ll Learn

Key Takeaways

• Investing is simpler than the industry makes it appear—AI removes the complexity barrier
• AI excels at explaining concepts, analyzing data, and building frameworks—not at predicting markets
• This course is educational, not financial advice—always consider professional guidance for real decisions
• Your personal goals, timeline, and risk tolerance drive every investment decision
• Understanding fundamentals before investing prevents the most common costly mistakes
• Start with concepts—knowing what you’re buying is the first step to investing wisely

Up next: In the next lesson, we’ll dive into Stocks, Bonds, and ETFs Explained.