Money man Martin Lewis teams up with remote-learning uni to teach us how to be better off in the long-term

An online money school has been launched by MoneySavingExpert and the Open University (OU). The website, fronted by finance guru Martin Lewis, opened the MSE Academy of Money in May.

The course is free and offers lessons to help manage our money with long-term planning. Like many OU programmes, the learning is flexible and can fit around our other commitments. We can work at our own pace, pick out topics that meet our needs and achieve goals recognised at work.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “Companies spend billions on teaching their staff to sell. Yet consumers don’t get any training. We need to redress that balance. We fought hard to get financial education on the curriculum, but these important lessons can’t just stop when people leave school.”

“Education is a form of financial self-defence, and so we’re delighted to encourage people to tool themselves up in our ‘Academoney’.”

The course is made up of six two-hour sessions on key aspects of personal finance, including explanatory videos by MSE founder Martin Lewis. One session looks at ‘making good spending decisions’, exploring the pressures we’re put under to spend. Others look at budgeting and tax, borrowing, savings, pensions and mortgages.

The course has been welcomed by the financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. Its interim chief executive Christopher Woolard said: “To take control of your finances you need to understand the options open to you. As a result, we’re delighted to see this course – which will hone people’s financial skills – being available to all, free of charge.”

To find out how to take part click here.

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