Entering the module
One sentence: life comes in stages, and every stage has its own cost and its own rule — the plan is not to be surprised by the stage that could, after all, be foreseen.
Chapters:
- The stages of life: the map
- Childhood: first money, first choices
- The first pay
- Family and home
- Children and education
- Middle age: change, debts and caring for parents
- Pensions: the three pillars
- Put your documents in order for your loved ones
- When something happens: the first weeks → The iron principle of the module
🎓 The idea behind the module: people spread their consumption over their whole life — they save when they earn and spend from their savings when they don't. This is the life-cycle theory of Franco Modigliani and Richard Brumberg (1954) ✔. A practical consequence: planning for the stages is the strongest financial habit; people who plan for retirement have greater wealth (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2011) ✔ (NBER w17078).
For the youngest · ages 6–7
🐣 The youngest: Life is like a game with levels. First nursery, then school, then work and a home. Every level has its own joys and its own needs. When you know what is coming, you can get ready. Right now you are on the piggy bank level.
Play together (5 minutes): Draw "the road of life" together with 5 stops: baby, pupil, grown-up, parent, grandparent. At each stop your child draws something that matters there. Tell them what mattered to you when you were children.
A question for the evening: "What would you like to be able to do when you grow up?"
Chapter 1 · The stages of life: the map
👧 Child It is like a game with levels: childhood, school, a first job, a home, a family, retirement. At every level things cost different amounts. It is good to know what is coming so you can get ready — not so you can be afraid.
🧑 Teenager The stages are not compulsory. Everyone lives through them differently, at different times. But there are recurring questions:
- where does my money come from at this stage?
- what are the big costs coming soon?
- what should I prepare now?
🧔 Adult Pecuvo's framework is a simple table: for each stage — income, big costs, risks, preparation. It shows two recurring patterns:
- Big costs come before big incomes (education, a first home, children).
- Risks grow when the reserve is smallest (young families) and when the ability to work declines (after 50).
That is why the iron principles (Module 8) are not "for grown-ups" — they are the foundation on which every stage stands.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "I'll deal with it when the time comes."
- Truth: the strongest decisions (when to start saving, what home to buy, how to put your documents in order) work best when they are taken early.
Who profits? The person who plans. Whoever doesn't plan pays with interest, emergency sales and nerves.
Scene for 3D: a path through a landscape with gates — "school", "first pay", "home", "children", "retirement". Before each gate there is a board: "What it will cost", "How to prepare".
→ Continue at the source
- OECD/INFE — frameworks for the financial competence of adults (January 2022) and of children and youth (27.09.2023) — EU/OECD-INFE ✔: https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/commission-and-oecd-infe-publish-joint-framework-adults-improve-individuals-financial-skills_en
- Franco Modigliani and Richard Brumberg (1954), "Utility Analysis and the Consumption Function", in: Kurihara (ed.), Post-Keynesian Economics, 1954 ✔.
Chapter 2 · Childhood: first money, first choices
👧 Child A piggy bank, pocket money, a birthday present. Here is the most interesting part: if you put some of your money aside for something you really want, the pleasure of buying it is greater. Try it!
🧑 Teenager What smart first choices look like [P]:
- a goal with a deadline ("a bike by the summer");
- three cups: spend, save, share;
- a first purchase with some thought: wait 24 hours and see whether you still want it.
🧔 Adult For parents: the most important thing is not the amount of pocket money but the conversation. Research shows that money habits are formed in the family as early as childhood — by what children see and how we talk about money at home (Shim et al., 2010 ✔ — see Module 13). Three principles:
- A positive frame — money is a tool, not a threat.
- Small real decisions — a small amount, a real choice, no rescuing.
- Example — children do as we do, not as we tell them.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "Children are too young for money."
- Truth: 7–8-year-olds already understand exchange, price and choice. The time to start is now.
Who profits? The child — when learning through real, small decisions. Adverts and apps profit from impulse spending.
Scene for 3D: three cups under one tap: "Spend", "Save", "Share". The child decides which one fills first.
→ Continue at the source
- Shim, S. et al. (2010) — parents and the financial socialisation of young people ✔ (see Module 13).
- The "Academy for parents" path in Pecuvo (R00).
Chapter 3 · The first pay
👧 Child When you grow up and get paid, the first thing to do is: put a little aside before you have spent anything.
🧑 Teenager The first pay comes with surprises:
- gross ≠ net: what the contract says is not what you receive — social security contributions and tax are deducted;
- the contract: duration, pay, probation period, notice periods;
- the first account: your pay goes into a bank account — watch the fees.
🧔 Adult Practical steps [P]:
- Read the contract and the payslip (what is gross, what the contributions are, what the tax is).
- Automate saving: a transfer on payday (Module 8, principle 1; Madrian & Shea, 2001 ✔).
- The reserve before everything: the first goal is 3 months of expenses (Module 8, principle 2).
- Avoid expensive debt in the first years (Module 7).
- Get into pension saving: in most countries contributions to the state pension are compulsory; for the second and third pillars — see Chapter 7.
Income tax and social security are national: each country sets its own rates, and they change. There is no common EU income tax ✔ (European Commission, Your Europe, "Taxes" — see the module "Taxes and public spending").
Example: Bulgaria — The rates of contributions and tax are set by law and change; they are checked with the National Revenue Agency (NRA, НАП) (https://nra.bg) and the National Social Security Institute (NSSI, НОИ) (https://www.noi.bg) ✔.
Check in your country — find your tax authority and your social security institute: both usually have calculators and explanations of how gross becomes net. Your payslip shows every deduction.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "Once I earn more, I'll start saving."
- Truth: spending grows together with income. The habit is built on small amounts (Module 14 — hedonic adaptation).
Who profits? Whoever starts early — compound interest works with time (Module 7). Sellers of consumer credit profit from "the first pay" as a reason to buy.
Scene for 3D: a payslip as a transparent pipe — "tax" and "contributions" drip out of it, and "net" is what is left at the end. The child follows the drops.
→ Continue at the source
- European Commission — Your Europe, "Taxes": https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/index_en.htm ✔ (opened 21.10.2026, in the module "Taxes and public spending").
- Example: Bulgaria — NRA, calculators and explanations of income tax: https://nra.bg ✔ (nra.bg redirects there) · NSSI, contributions and pensions ✔: https://www.noi.bg (in Bulgarian).
- Madrian & Shea (2001) ✔ — automatic enrolment.
Chapter 4 · Family and home
👧 Child A home is not just a house — it is the place where you feel at home. Buying or renting it costs a lot of money, so grown-ups plan it for a long time.
🧑 Teenager Buy or rent? There is no universal answer. Both have a cost that is not visible straight away:
- buying: capital (a down payment), a loan with interest, taxes, upkeep, missed opportunities (if the money is locked into a home, it is not elsewhere);
- renting: flexibility, but no asset builds up.
🧔 Adult The questions before a home [P]:
- What does the loan cost over its whole life, not just the instalment? (APR — Module 7)
- Is there a reserve left after the down payment? A home without a reserve is the most common cause of stress.
- What happens if one income is lost? If the family relies on two, check whether the instalment is bearable on one.
- What are the other costs? Property taxes, local waste charges, repairs, insurance (Module 12).
- What is being traded (Module 16): a home against experiences, against freedom of choice, against time.
How many people own their home differs a lot between countries; in some, ownership is a cultural goal. This is a fact, not a recommendation: Pecuvo does not say "buy" or "rent", but "see what you are trading".
Example: Bulgaria — About 85–86% of people live in a home they own (Eurostat, table ilc_lvho02: 85.0% for 2022; 86.1% for 2025 ✔ — opened 21.10.2026).
Check in your country — Eurostat's table ilc_lvho02 shows the share of owners and tenants for every EU country.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "Rent is money thrown away; a home is an investment."
- Truth: both have a cost. A home is an asset and an expense at the same time — interest, upkeep, taxes, missed opportunities. The decision depends on your life.
Who profits? Banks profit from the interest; agents from the commission; developers from your feeling of "now or never". You profit when the decision is yours, not sold to you.
Scene for 3D: two houses. One is on credit, with a "tail" of interest. The other is rented, with a "door" that opens easily. The child counts what each one brings.
→ Continue at the source
- Eurostat — share of owners (dataset ilc_lvho02) ✔ — https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat.
- Directive 2014/17/EU — mortgage credit (EUR-Lex): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/17/oj ✔ — Module 7.
Chapter 5 · Children and education
👧 Child Your parents think about your future — but the most important thing they give you is not in the bank. It is attention, learning and love.
🧑 Teenager Education is an investment in human capital (Gary Becker, 1964) ✔: knowledge and skills bring income and choice throughout life. But not every investment is university — skills, languages, practice, a mentor.
🧔 Adult Two questions that belong together:
- How much does it cost to raise a child? — the full bill (food, clothes, education, free time, a parent's lost income) depends heavily on the family. Pecuvo gives no "average figures" — it puts them into your budget.
- How do you prepare for education? — early, small, regular. The example from Module 7: small contributions started early work better than large ones started late.
The positive frame for children: not "how much children cost", but "what we want to give them".
Myth → truth
- Myth: "The best investment in a child is the most expensive school."
- Truth: research shows that attention and activities with the child — for example reading together — are linked with better reading results, and most of them need little time and no special knowledge (OECD, "Let's Read Them a Story! The Parent Factor in Education", 2012, based on PISA data) ✔. Expensive is no guarantee.
Who profits? Educational products promising "guaranteed academic success" profit from parents' fears. Children profit from stability.
Scene for 3D: a garden in which a tree is growing. Nobody pulls it upwards — it gets sun, water and time. Next to the tree — a small piggy bank from which the watering can is filled.
→ Continue at the source
- Gary Becker (1964), Human Capital ✔ — see Module 16.
- OECD, "Let's Read Them a Story! The Parent Factor in Education", 2012, DOI 10.1787/9789264176232-en ✔ (the publication's description, opened 21.10.2026).
Chapter 6 · Middle age: change, debts and caring for parents
👧 Child Sometimes grown-ups change their job or start something new. That is brave, and it needs preparation.
🧑 Teenager Between about 40 and 55, many people:
- change career;
- start their own business (Module 10);
- pay for their children's education;
- care for their parents.
This is called the "sandwich generation" — squeezed between the children and the parents.
🧔 Adult The risks of this stage [P]:
- Debts towards the end of a career — if loans drag on past 55–60, flexibility shrinks.
- Caring for elderly parents — the costs are unpredictable; prepare a conversation and documents (Chapter 8).
- Health — the reserve and insurance (Module 12) matter more than ever.
- Retirement is getting closer — time for an "inventory" (Module 9, Chapter 6).
The good news: income is at its highest, and interest on savings has been building up for a long time. The accelerator is a realistic plan, not panic.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "At 50 it's too late."
- Truth: the delay is real, but it is not total. Every year in which you add softens the result. Starting at 50 is better than starting at 55.
Who profits? "Quick" products for "catching up" on a pension (speculation, pyramid schemes) target people who fear they are too late. That is exactly who the module "Fraud, pyramids and getting rich quick" is for.
Scene for 3D: a bridge with two sides — the children on the left, the parents on the right — and a person in the middle holding both. The bridge has supports: a reserve, insurance, a clear plan.
→ Continue at the source
- EU — "2021 Long-Term Care Report: Trends, challenges and opportunities in an ageing society" (European Commission and the Social Protection Committee), vol. I: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9144-2021-ADD-1/en/pdf ✔ (opened 21.10.2026).
- The module "Fraud, pyramids and getting rich quick": "catch-up" products.
Chapter 7 · Pensions: the three pillars
👧 Child Retirement is the time when a person has worked long enough and can rest. The money comes from a shared fund that everyone has paid into.
🧑 Teenager General principle. Pension systems are national: the EU coordinates them but does not harmonise them. Many countries describe their system as three pillars — a way of describing pension systems used by the World Bank and the OECD:
- First pillar — the state (public) pension: today's workers pay for today's pensioners.
- Second pillar — funded pensions (compulsory in some countries, occupational in others): part of the contributions builds up in a personal account or a workplace scheme.
- Third pillar — voluntary pension saving: extra contributions by choice. In the EU there is also a product that works the same way across countries — the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) (Regulation (EU) 2019/1238) ✔ (EIOPA).
Example: Bulgaria — The system is organised in three pillars ✔: I — state social insurance (the National Social Security Institute, NSSI): today's workers pay for today's pensioners; II — supplementary compulsory pension insurance in universal and occupational pension funds: part of the contributions builds up in a personal account; III — voluntary pension insurance: extra contributions by choice. Pillars II and III are supervised by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC).
🧔 Adult What to ask [P]:
- What is my expected pension? — the social security institute usually has an online portal with your record of insurance periods and earnings and, often, a pension forecast.
- How much is in my second pillar? — the pension company must send you an annual statement. For workplace schemes in the EU, Directive (EU) 2016/2341 (IORP II), Article 38, requires a Pension Benefit Statement at least once a year, free of charge ✔ (Article 38(1) and (3); official text opened 21.10.2026: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/2341/oj); for a PEPP — the PEPP Benefit Statement ✔.
- What are the fees? — fund fees are charged on contributions and on assets; a small annual difference in the fee leads to a big difference at the end (Module 7).
- Who supervises? — the national financial supervisor.
Example: Bulgaria — In the NSSI's electronic social insurance file (accessed with a personal identification code, PIC) you see the insurance periods and insured income reported for you and can calculate your forecast pension ✔ (noi.bg, "Issuing a PIC", opened 21.10.2026). The pension company must provide you, free of charge, by 31 May each year, a statement of your individual account for the previous year ✔ (Social Security Code, Article 123z²(1)(3); the text of the Code, opened 21.10.2026). The supervisor is the FSC (https://www.fsc.bg) ✔.
Check in your country — find your social security institute (or pension authority) and its online portal; ask your pension company by what date it sends the annual statement; find the financial supervisor that licenses pension companies. If you have worked in more than one EU country, start from Your Europe → "State pensions abroad".
Amounts, the retirement age and tax reliefs change with the law. Check the current values with the official institutions — not in articles, and not with a salesperson.
Pecuvo does not recommend any fund or product. It shows how to read the statement and what to ask.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "The state will take care of it."
- Truth: the state pension is an important foundation, but it replaces part of your income, not all of it. That is why the second and third pillars, your own savings and assets (Module 3) complete the picture.
Who profits? Funds profit from fees; salespeople from commissions. You profit when you know what fee you pay and what you get.
Scene for 3D: three columns holding up a roof. Take one away and the roof tilts. The child adds weights and watches the balance.
→ Continue at the source
- EU — Your Europe, "State pensions abroad": https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/index_en.htm ✔ (opened 21.10.2026, in the module "Pensions — the three pillars")
- EU — EIOPA, Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP): https://www.eiopa.europa.eu/browse/regulation-and-policy/pan-european-personal-pension-product-pepp_en ✔ (opened 21.10.2026, in the module "Pensions — the three pillars")
- Example: Bulgaria — NSSI: https://www.noi.bg ✔ · FSC, pension insurance: https://www.fsc.bg ✔ (in Bulgarian)
- OECD — "Pensions at a Glance" (series) ✔.
Chapter 8 · Put your documents in order for your loved ones
👧 Child If someone you love is ill or far away, it is good to know where the important things are. Ask your parents: "Where are the important papers kept?" Not out of fear — out of care.
🧑 Teenager The idea is simple: make a list of where the important things are, so that someone close to you can help you if needed. This is not a will, and it is not scary — it is being organised.
🧔 Adult Here is the practical list [P] — "A folder for loved ones":
| What | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Personal documents | Where they are: identity card, birth/marriage certificate, diplomas |
| Bank accounts | Bank, type of account (no passwords!), where the contracts are |
| Insurance | Insurer, policy number, expiry date (Module 12) |
| Debts and loans | Lender, balance outstanding, instalment |
| Property and vehicles | Title deeds, vehicle registration documents |
| Shares in companies / stocks | Where the documents are, who is registered |
| Pension funds | Fund, account |
| Password manager | Where the master access is (without writing the passwords themselves on the list) |
| Contacts | Who to contact — lawyer, notary, accountant, doctor |
| Wishes | Health decisions, care for children or pets |
Passwords, PINs and codes for banking apps are not written on paper and not given to anyone. Access is arranged with a legal instrument (a power of attorney), not with a shared password.
The legal part (briefly, not legal advice):
- Which law applies. Inheritance law is national. Within the EU, Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 (the Succession Regulation) decides which country's law applies to a cross-border inheritance: usually the law of the EU country where the deceased last lived, unless they chose the law of their country of nationality ✔ (Your Europe, "Managing an inheritance", opened 21.10.2026). The European Certificate of Succession is recognised in other EU countries without any special procedure, and its effects are the same throughout the EU ✔ (same source). Denmark and Ireland do not take part in the simplified rules ✔ (same source: decisions issued by their courts do not benefit from them).
- Wills, intestate succession, powers of attorney — the forms of a will, who inherits when there is no will, and how a power of attorney is given are set by national law.
- Important: the exact rules, deadlines and fees — with a notary or lawyer. Here is the map, not the advice.
Example: Bulgaria — A will is either handwritten or notarised (Inheritance Act) ✔. If there is no will, the estate passes by law — who inherits depends on how close the relationship is (children, spouse, parents, brothers and sisters — Inheritance Act, Articles 5–9) ✔ (European e-Justice Portal, "Succession — Bulgaria", opened 21.10.2026). A power of attorney lets someone close to you act on your behalf: one person may represent another "by the will of the person represented", and for contracts that require a special form (e.g. notarial), the authorisation must also be in that form ✔ (Obligations and Contracts Act, Articles 36–37; the text of the Act, opened 21.10.2026). The first step for the family is to establish who the heirs are — with a certificate of heirs, issued by the mayor of the municipality of the deceased's last permanent address — and to check the estate ✔ (European e-Justice Portal, "Succession — Bulgaria", opened 21.10.2026).
Check in your country — the European e-Justice Portal has a "Succession" page for every EU country: the forms of a will, the legal heirs, the documents the family needs. Your national chamber of notaries is a neutral starting point for questions.
🏗 Project / company: the same idea on another scale — who knows what if a key person is absent: access rights, contracts, project deadlines, contacts at the funding body. A "continuity plan" (Module 11).
Myth → truth
- Myth: "If you haven't put your documents in order, it's because you don't think about death."
- Truth: putting things in order is a gift to your loved ones: they don't have to search while they grieve. You are thinking of them.
Who profits? Your loved ones — peace of mind and time. Notaries and lawyers are needed, but with a folder the work is shorter. Fraudsters profit from the chaos after a loss ("insurance" or "inheritance" calls on the phone — the module "Fraud, pyramids and getting rich quick").
Scene for 3D: a box with a glass lid on a shelf in the room. Inside — labelled folders. The child asks: "What would someone close to me find here?" and adds the missing label.
→ Continue at the source
- EU — Your Europe, "Managing an inheritance" (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, CELEX 32012R0650): https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/family/inheritances/managing-inheritance/index_en.htm ✔ (opened 21.10.2026).
- Example: Bulgaria — the Inheritance Act — the forms of a will (handwritten and notarised), the legal heirs and the certificate of heirs: European e-Justice Portal, "Succession — Bulgaria": https://e-justice.europa.eu/topics/family-matters-inheritance/inheritance/succession/bg_bg ✔ (opened 21.10.2026; the link leads to the Bulgarian-language version of the page).
- Example: Bulgaria — Notary Chamber of the Republic of Bulgaria ✔ — https://www.notary-chamber.bg.
- The idea of an "estate plan" comes from online services in the United States (e.g. Everplans, https://www.everplans.com) — the idea only, not a product and not a recommendation ✔ (the site was opened 21.10.2026).
Chapter 9 · When something happens: the first weeks
👧 Child If something sad happens in the family, the grown-ups have a lot to do and are sometimes tired. You help most with calm and a hug.
🧑 Teenager After a serious loss or illness, a family faces dozens of small tasks. A list of first steps helps: who to notify, which documents are needed, which payments continue. The folder from Chapter 8 makes them easier.
🧔 Adult Three principles [P]:
- Don't rush into irreversible decisions (selling property, a large transfer) in the first weeks.
- Don't pay "intermediaries" over the phone — scams about an "unpaid insurance policy", an "inheritance tax" or a "fee for access to the account" are well known (the module "Fraud, pyramids and getting rich quick").
- Use official sources: a notary, the bank, the tax authority, the social security institute.
The reserve (Module 8) and insurance (Module 12) are most real here: they give you time to decide without pressure.
Myth → truth
- Myth: "Everything has to be settled at once."
- Truth: almost nothing is urgent in the first days, except what concerns health and safety. Time is an ally when there is a reserve.
Who profits? Whoever is prepared. Fraudsters bet on haste and grief.
Scene for 3D: a storm passing. The home has a lit window — the reserve. The child is not afraid, because there is something to come back to.
→ Continue at the source
- Example: Bulgaria — the Notary Chamber, the NRA (https://nra.bg), the NSSI — official explanations ✔ (in Bulgarian). In another country: the notaries' chamber, the tax authority and the social security institute.
- The module "Fraud, pyramids and getting rich quick".
The iron principle of the module
Plan for the stages before they come; put your documents in order before they are needed; never decide the irreversible under pressure.
- 👧 Child: ask where the important things are; talking about money is normal.
- 🧑 Teenager: for every stage ask "what will it cost?" and "what can I prepare now?"
- 🧔 Adult:
- a reserve and insurance;
- a pension statement once a year;
- "A folder for loved ones";
- don't pay under pressure.
Your step in Pecuvo: (1) Make a "map of the stages" — your next three big costs, with dates. (2) Create a space "A folder for loved ones" (only a list of where the documents are, no passwords). (3) Set a goal "pension statement" once a year. (4) Set a reminder to renew your insurance (Module 12).
Check yourself (3 questions per level)
- 👧 1. What are the three cups for pocket money? 2. Why is it good to know where the family's important documents are? 3. What is "net" pay?
- 🧑 1. What is the difference between gross and net? 2. What are the three pillars of a pension system? 3. What goes into "A folder for loved ones" — and what does not (passwords)?
- 🧔 1. What questions do you ask before buying a home (at least three)? 2. In an inheritance with links to more than one EU country, which country's law usually applies — and what does the European Certificate of Succession do? (In the Bulgarian example: what are the two kinds of will, and what happens without a will?) 3. Why do you not pay "intermediaries" over the phone in the first weeks after a loss?
Sources (summary)
- ✔ Madrian & Shea (2001) — automatic enrolment; ✔ Shim et al. (2010) — parents and financial socialisation.
- Checked on 19.10 and 21.10.2026 (the status is next to each line above): Modigliani & Brumberg (1954); Lusardi & Mitchell (2011), "Financial Literacy and Planning: Implications for Retirement Wellbeing"; Becker (1964); Eurostat (ilc_lvho02, share of owners); Directive 2014/17/EU; OECD "Let's Read Them a Story!" (2012) and "Pensions at a Glance"; the EU long-term care report (2021); EU/OECD Financial Competence Framework.
- EU (added for the English version, 21.10.2026): Your Europe, "Managing an inheritance" (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012) ✔; Your Europe, "Taxes" ✔ and "State pensions abroad" ✔ and EIOPA (PEPP) ✔ — as checked for the modules "Taxes and public spending" and "Pensions — the three pillars"; Directive (EU) 2016/2341 (IORP II), Article 38(1) and (3) ✔ — official text (Publications Office of the EU) opened 21.10.2026: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/2341/oj
- Example: Bulgaria: the Inheritance Act (through the European e-Justice Portal); the Obligations and Contracts Act (Articles 36–37); the Social Security Code (Article 123z²); NSSI, FSC, NRA.