Taking Stock Lesson Pack
All 8 lessons of Stage −1 in one place: learning objective, class time, discussion question, and quiz answer key for prep — ready to use, no assembly required.
Why this pack
Stage −1 (Taking Stock) is the natural starting point: no prior knowledge needed, an honest reality check before the first euro. This pack bundles all 8 lessons with what you'd otherwise have to assemble yourself. Recommended age: 13+ (details on the For teachers page).
Matching worksheet: Budget check (fillable PDF) — as homework or to close out the unit.
Two ways to use this pack: as one connected 45-minute block (briefly introduce all 8, go deeper on 2-3 together, leave the rest as homework), or as 8 separate 10-15 minute openers spread across several class periods.
The 8 lessons
1. Before you invest a single euro
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can use three questions to decide for yourself whether investing is the right next step for you right now.
Class time: about 6 min. (2 min. reading + discussion)
Discussion question: Why is paying off an overdraft often better than investing?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: You have saved €2,000 but still carry €1,500 in overdraft debt at 12% interest and have no emergency fund. A friend suggests starting an ETF savings plan right away.
Correct answer: Pay off the overdraft and build an emergency fund first, then invest. Why: Close both missing pieces first — otherwise any market dip turns into a forced sale.
2. The emergency fund
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can calculate how large your own emergency fund should be.
Class time: about 6 min.
Discussion question: Is the emergency fund sized to your income or your expenses?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: You have no debt and would like to invest. But your account only holds one month of expenses as a cushion.
Correct answer: Build it up to three to six months of expenses first, before investing larger amounts. Why: Without that cushion, any investment becomes a forced-sale source in an emergency, often at the worst moment.
3. Expensive debt first
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can explain why paying off expensive debt is often the best investment available.
Class time: about 6 min.
Discussion question: Why can't a debt payoff's return be compared directly to an investment return?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: You owe €3,000 at 10% overdraft interest and are considering investing that money in an ETF that has historically returned about 7% a year instead.
Correct answer: Pay off the debt first, because a certain 10% cost beats an uncertain 7% return. Why: Paying down debt gives you a guaranteed, tax-free return equal to the interest rate — hard to beat.
4. What's left at the end of the month
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can calculate your own savings rate from fixed expenses, variable expenses, and annual costs.
Class time: about 5 min.
Discussion question: Which variable in a savings plan can you reliably control?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: You want to know how much you can save each month, and you only add up your fixed costs like rent.
Correct answer: Variable expenses and a reserve for annual costs belong too, or the savings rate gets overstated. Why: Only all three numbers together give you the honest, sustainable savings rate.
5. Insurance before wealth
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can assess which risks you should insure against before starting to build wealth.
Class time: about 5 min.
Discussion question: Why is insurance rational even though it costs money on average?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: You have a portfolio doing well, but no liability insurance.
Correct answer: A single major liability claim can wipe out a portfolio built up over years. Why: Insure existential risks before taking on market risk with the rest of your money.
6. Goal and time horizon
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can define your savings goal and time horizon and derive the right kind of investment from them.
Class time: about 5 min.
Discussion question: Why does the probability of a loss fall with a longer holding period?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: You need this money in two years for a down payment, but are considering putting it in stocks.
Correct answer: With a two-year horizon, this money does not belong in volatile assets. Why: The time horizon determines the right asset, not the other way around.
7. How much loss can you actually take
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can assess your own risk tolerance from both your financial capacity and your emotional capacity.
Class time: about 5 min.
Discussion question: What's the difference between risk capacity and risk tolerance?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: On paper you could easily handle a 50% loss, but a 10% drop already keeps you up at night wanting to sell.
Correct answer: The lower of the two applies — here, your emotional limit of 10%. Why: Risk tolerance has two parts, financial and emotional, and the smaller value sets the actually bearable risk level.
8. When investing doesn't make sense for you yet
Learning objective: After this lesson, you can recognize the life situations in which investing is still the wrong decision for you.
Class time: about 5 min.
Discussion question: Roughly what does a year of waiting cost, and what can it earn instead?
Show quiz answer key (for prep)
Situation: A friend in an acute financial crisis, with no savings and heavy debt, asks whether they should put money into crypto now to get out of the hole faster.
Correct answer: No, investing is the wrong decision in this situation. Why: With no savings and heavy debt, the basics need fixing first, long before investing is even on the table.
After this pack
Direct continuation into Stage 0 (Fundamentals) under Understanding investing. For a hands-on exercise with no real money, the paper-trading simulator fits well.