Practice & capstones
This course advances by gates, not streaks. Each level ends in a capstone — something you do, with real instruments and your own numbers, checked against a rubric you apply to yourself honestly. This page collects every gate; a new capstone section is added here as each level ships.
A standing note that applies to every capstone below: the capstones have you underwrite and, where you choose to, deploy real money. The course teaches evaluation — every deployment decision, and every amount, is yours. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy any particular instrument.
Level 0 gate — the system, drawn
Section titled “Level 0 gate — the system, drawn”(Recap — this gate closes Level 0 and is assumed done before Level 1’s capstone.)
The gate: draw your own money system as stocks and flows — income → savings valve → asset stock → passive flow → reinvest loop — and state where every peso currently leaks (lifestyle inflation, fees, tax, inflation/peso depreciation).
You passed it when: the diagram exists on paper, each of the four leaks has a named, quantified line in your own system (“fees: ₱X/yr in fund charges”, “tax: 20% of all interest”), and your balance-sheet classification from lesson 0.1 shows a total passive ₱/month baseline — however close to zero. If any of that is missing, finish it before deploying a peso of the Level 1 capstone: the capstone assumes you know where your leaks are.
Level 1 capstone — the starter allocation, deployed
Section titled “Level 1 capstone — the starter allocation, deployed”The gate (from the curriculum): underwrite any simple asset — net yield, real return, drawdown, liquidity, effort — and deploy a first allocation with the math written down.
The brief
Section titled “The brief”Deploy the starter allocation with real money, at sizes you choose:
- Emergency fund placed — split across PDIC-verified digital banks per lesson 1.3, with the starter buffer / deep fund separation and an automated fill running.
- MP2 opened and funded — lesson 1.4’s deployment, with your compounded-vs-annual-payout choice written down, and the ladder’s year-2 diary entry set.
- First global index purchase made — through the decision-tree branch you chose in lesson 1.6 (offshore broker with UCITS, retail app, or SEC-registered local feeder/UITF), with your written decision-tree outcome and its named, dated risks on file.
- First PSE dividend share and/or first REIT bought — one board lot each per lesson 1.7, with the PSE EDGE dividend declarations pulled and the ex-dividend and payment dates recorded.
And the paperwork that makes it a capstone rather than a shopping trip:
- A written one-line scorecard for every instrument chosen — all five axes: net yield · total expected return · drawdown · liquidity · effort — using dated figures.
- The risk file — your −40% drawdown rehearsal, liquidity map, and one asymmetry-filtered pitch from lesson 1.8.
The rubric
Section titled “The rubric”Apply it to yourself, in writing, before moving to Level 2:
| Verdict | Standard |
|---|---|
| Not yet | Any scorecard missing its net-of-tax math — a gross number where a net one belongs, an advertised rate uncorrected, a real return never computed. This is the single disqualifier, because it’s the failure the whole level exists to prevent. Redo lesson 1.1 on the offending instruments and rescore. |
| Passing | Every deployed instrument has all five scorecard axes computed with dated figures, the deployments in the brief exist, and the decision-tree outcome (1.6) is on file with named risks. |
| Strong | Passing, plus a rejected alternative for every pick, with the reason written down — “MP2 over Tonik TD because…”, “VWRA via Branch C over Branch A because…”, “AREIT over the higher-yielding REIT because…”. Choosing is easy; documenting what you turned down and why is what makes the next hundred decisions faster and the bad ones rarer. |
Printable capstone pack
Section titled “Printable capstone pack”External checkpoints (optional, free): after passing, the course’s suggested outside signals are completing a BSP BELA e-learning module and attending one free PSE Academy webinar — the nearest things this domain has to a free formal checkpoint.
When you pass: update your progress page, redo the lesson 0.1 balance-sheet classification (your passive ₱/month baseline just moved off zero), and proceed to Level 2 — where the machinery you just built starts getting tuned: dividends without the traps, REITs analyzed properly, bonds, taxes, and behavior under fire.
Capstones for Levels 2–5 are added here as those levels ship.