Bite-sized courses that teach teens how to save and invest with confidence.
The Basics of Stocks and Investing for Teens
From paychecks to portfolios, get the money skills your school doesn’t teach you.
My goal is simple:
To give students like us the basics of financial literacy in a way that’s easy to understand and actually useful.
How It Started
Empowering Teens Through Financial Literacy
Hi there! My name is Stefan Thoukis, and I’m a senior at Joseph A. Gregori High School in Modesto, CA. Earlier this summer, I was talking with friends about life after high school — our careers, where we might live, and how we’d make enough money to afford the lifestyles we dream about. Pretty soon the conversation turned to investing.
One friend shouted “crypto;” another said “real estate,” but it was obvious none of us really knew much about making, saving, or investing money. And since our schools weren’t teaching it, I realized we needed a resource just for high schoolers — created by someone who gets it.
From Talk to Action
That summertime conversation was the start of stocktipsforhighschoolkids.com.
Here, you’ll find easy lessons on saving, credit, compound interest, and investing — giving you a foundation to build on before stepping into the real world.
Course Overview
What You’ll Learn From the Basics of Stocks and Investing for Teens
The Basics of Financial Literacy
Learn the money skills your school doesn’t teach — from understanding income and expenses to credit, compound interest, and the power of saving early.
Investing for the Future
Discover how to grow your money by learning about risk, diversification, and different types of investments like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
Defining the Stock Market
Dive into the stock market playbook: stocks, bonds, funds, and ETFs — and how they all power smart investing and wealth-building.
Understanding Stock Indexes and What They Represent
Ever hear about the Dow, S&P 500, or Nasdaq on the news? Learn what these indexes really mean — and how they measure the market’s moves.
Investing: How to Get Started
Ready to put your money to work instead of letting it just sit around? Learn the difference between savings, brokerage accounts, and tax-advantaged plans like 401(k)s and IRAs.
Creating an Investment Plan
Turn what you’ve learned into action. Build a simple investment plan by setting goals, managing risk, diversifying, and keeping more of what you earn.
Course Overview
What You’ll Learn From the Basics of Stocks and Investing for Teens
The Basics of Financial Literacy
This course delivers the financial literacy foundation every high schooler needs before stepping into the real world.
You’ll learn the difference between gross and net income (your paycheck vs. your “take-home pay”), how to build smart money habits, and how to manage expenses and budgeting. We’ll also break down credit and interest rates, explain how inflation affects the value of money, and more.
Investing for the Future
This course introduces you to the essentials of investing and how to make your money work for you over time.
You’ll learn about risk tolerance (deciding how much risk you’re comfortable with), and why diversification — spreading your money across different investments — helps protect against losses. We’ll also cover common types of investments. By the end, you’ll understand the basics of investing, the risks and rewards involved, and how to start thinking long-term about your financial future.
Defining the Stock Market
This course breaks down the basics of the stock market and the key types of investments you’ll hear about the most. You’ll learn what it means to own a stock, the difference between common and preferred shares, and how bonds work.
We’ll also explain options like cash investments (savings accounts, CDs, money markets), as well as mutual funds and EFTs. Plus, you’ll get familiar with terms like dividends, bull vs. bear markets, and liquidity. By the end, you’ll know how these tools really work — and how they can fuel your future money moves.
Understanding Stock Indexes and What They Represent
The stock market can sound like a foreign language — Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq — but these aren’t just random names. They’re stock indexes, which track groups of companies to show how the overall market is doing.
In this course, you’ll explore what each index represents, how they’re built, and why they’re often used as “report cards” for the economy. By the end, you’ll understand why these numbers matter, and how they can guide smarter investing decisions.
Investing: How to Get Started
In this course, we’ll break down the different ways you can start saving and investing your money. That means everything from bank savings accounts (safe but low return) to brokerage accounts where you can buy stocks, bonds, and funds.
You’ll also learn about tax-advantaged accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs, which give your future-focused savings more staying power over time. We’ll cover key terms like capital gains and explain the fees you might encounter so there are no surprises. By the end, you’ll have a clear layout of your options and so you can start your investing journey with confidence.
Creating an Investment Plan
You don’t have to wait until you’re an adult or out of college to start building real savings — you can begin now. This course is all about putting the pieces together and creating an investment plan that works for you.
We’ll start with setting clear goals, and you’ll see why it pays to start early, giving your money more time to grow through compound interest. We’ll also cover:
- How to balance time and risk.
- Why diversification is so important, and
- How to minimize fees and taxes so you keep more of what you earn.
By the end, you’ll have a roadmap for building an investment plan that helps you achieve the future you dream of.