In an ideal world, a master class available to everyone would reveal all the secrets to retirement planning, telling you how much to save, where to invest and what to do when the stock market crashes.

After all, there are few entirely conflict-free places where investors can educate themselves on the topic, and there’s little to no money-related guidance offered within the public school system, which is where the financial groundwork should really be laid.

Joshua Rauh, a finance professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is acutely aware of that. And it’s why he felt compelled to open his graduate-level course on the finance of retirement and pensions to the masses. “My goal is to try to empower people to make better decisions about their finances with an eye toward retirement and for retirees who are thinking about managing their money,” Professor Rauh said, “whether it is buying an annuity or having a spending rule.”

The course, which is offered free online, begins on Monday. I sat for nearly half of his online video lectures — on topics like “saving for retirement” and “making smart decisions as a stock market investor” — earlier this week. Watching remotely means you won’t be party to the discussion that will emerge from the Socratic method Professor Rauh uses in his traditional classroom on campus. And there are already 13,000 students, so it’s hard to expect any personal attention.