Exam prep · Free beginner course
A beginner's personal finance course that starts with the very basics and builds one step at a time. Unit 1 reads a pay stub: gross and net pay, what FICA is, what a W-4 and a W-2 do, and how filing a return works. Unit 2 builds a budget, tracks spending and starts an emergency fund. Unit 3 covers checking and savings accounts, FDIC and NCUA insurance, overdraft and other fees, and how to use a debit card safely. Unit 4 explains what credit is, what is in a credit report, how to get yours free, and how a credit score is built. Unit 5 covers credit cards, loans and high-cost credit such as payday loans, and how to pay off debt and deal with collectors under federal law. Unit 6 covers scams and identity theft, insurance terms, renting a home and buying a car. Every card comes from public US government consumer education (FDIC Money Smart, the CFPB, the FTC, the IRS and HUD) and is written in plain language for someone starting out. Rules that vary by state say so. This is education, not financial, legal or tax advice.
Copied straight from the course. In the app, each wrong option also gets its own explanation.
Card 1Priya received a 900 dollar tax refund. What does that money represent?
Pay that was over-withheld during the year, coming back to her. Withholding too much means you do not have use of the money until a refund returns it; a refund is over-withheld pay, not extra income.
Card 2Ana pays her car insurance twice a year. What is the right way to put it in a monthly budget?
Divide one payment by 6 and set that amount aside each month. FDIC converts a semi-annual bill to a monthly amount by dividing it by 6, so the money is ready when the bill arrives.
Card 3Maria never opted in to overdraft coverage. She tries a debit card purchase that would overdraw her account. What happens?
The purchase is declined and no fee is charged. Without opt-in, a bank cannot charge an overdraft fee on a one-time debit card purchase or ATM withdrawal, so the transaction is generally declined at no cost.
Card 4Sam checks his own credit report online. How does this affect his credit score?
Not at all; it is a soft inquiry. Checking your own report is a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries never affect scores and are visible only to you. A hard inquiry, when a lender checks because you applied for credit, can lower a score.
Card 5Rosa took a $300 payday loan with a $45 fee. On the due date she cannot pay, so she pays $45 to roll it over. Where does that leave her?
She still owes $300 and has now paid $90 in fees. A rollover extends the due date for a new fee. CFPB: rolling the $300 loan once takes the cost from $45 to $90 while the $300 is still owed. Many states limit or ban rollovers, so the rules vary by state.
Card 6Which way of paying is a red flag that you are dealing with a scammer?
A gift card. No real business or government agency asks to be paid with a gift card. Gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency and payment apps are the scammer's favorite ways to be paid.
Encodr is a friendly, game-like flashcard app. Spaced repetition schedules every review for you, and the rest keeps you coming back.
Study a little each day to build a streak. A streak freeze forgives a missed day.
Small goals each day, like finishing a set, with a little celebration when you clear one.
Sessions come in bite-size sets of 15 to 25 answers, so there is always a natural place to stop.
Earn XP and level up, then see friends on a daily leaderboard and send them a nudge.
Yes. Create a free Encodr account and all 6 units and 188 cards are yours to study, with spaced repetition scheduling your reviews.
Adults starting from zero: a first job, a first bank account, a first credit card, rent to pay. Every term is defined before it is tested, and the units build on each other, so start at Unit 1 even if some of it feels familiar.
US government consumer education: the FDIC Money Smart for Adults modules, Ask CFPB answers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FTC consumer advice, IRS filing pages, HUD fair housing pages, and FICO for how a score is weighted. Each card lists the page it rests on. Figures that change every year, such as tax brackets, are left out on purpose.
No. The course teaches the rules and the reasons behind them so you can make your own decisions. Rules that differ by state (renting, payday loans, wage garnishment) say "varies by state". For a real situation, a nonprofit credit counselor, a free tax clinic or a legal aid office can help.
Encodr also has Personal Finance Fundamentals, Taxes 101 and Investing 101, which pick up where this course stops: compound interest, index funds, retirement accounts and the tax system in more depth.