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Step 1
Look for a career with a business or financial orientation. This is a great option if you want to work in a related field later on or if you plan on opening your own business. Careers in accounting, corporation management and business can all prepare you to handle financial planning more effectively.
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Step 2
Choose a major in finance to understand the enterprise system or to go into financial planning and advising later on. While other careers with a business orientation can also be useful, you may need a more specific background if you want to succeed in this field.
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Step 3
Take courses like principles of microeconomics, business statistics, marketing concepts, services operations management and business communications. All these courses (and other related ones) may be available as electives, so you don't have to actually declare yourself a finance or business major to take any of them. Even if you plan to attend college for a different career, it still makes sense to take some of these electives for your own benefit.
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Step 4
Take single, separate courses with a financial orientation. Many of them last for a single semester and are open to everybody--even people who are not regular students at the institution. While you may not get college credit for them, you will still come out better educated and more secure in your financial decisions.
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Step 5
Look into online colleges. Business degrees are among the most popular distance-education degrees. Studying from home means you don't have to postpone getting a degree because of time and money constraints and that you can also choose the courses more freely to meet your personal goals.
