Hallycon Academy

Course 7 · Next step

What you can invest in

Cash, shares, bonds, funds, property, gold and insurance-based savings: what each one is, what it can do for you and what can go wrong.

  • 8 lessons
  • 56 min
  • Free
  • A certificate when you finish

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Who it is for

For anyone with money set aside who wants to see the options side by side before deciding anything.

The lessons

Each lesson has a short video, a quiz and links to learn more. The full lessons open after a free sign-in.

  1. Lesson 1: Cash, savings accounts and term deposits

    7 min

    Safe from price swings, not from inflation. Savings accounts, regulated savings boxes, term deposits, and when cash is the right place for your money.

    Key points

    • Cash keeps its value in euros or francs and is protected up to a limit, but inflation can still eat it.
    • Each country has its own savings boxes, such as the Livret A in France or the regulated savings account in Belgium.
    • Cash is right for the emergency fund and for money you need within about three years.

  2. Lesson 2: Shares: owning a slice of a company

    7 min

    A share makes you part-owner of a company. You share in its profits and its fortunes, including the chance that it goes to zero.

    Key points

    • Shareholders can receive dividends, and gain or lose as the share price moves.
    • One company can fail completely; owning many companies spreads that risk.
    • Over long periods shares have been the most rewarding and the bumpiest of the main investments (MSCI index history; not a promise).

  3. Lesson 3: Bonds: lending your money

    7 min

    Government and company bonds pay interest until they end. Why bond prices fall when interest rates rise, as many savers learned in 2022.

    Key points

    • A bond is a loan: you receive interest and get your money back at the end, if the borrower can pay.
    • When rates rise, older bonds lose value: Germany's 10-year yield went from about −0.2% at the end of 2021 to about 2.5% at the end of 2022 (Bundesbank).
    • A credit rating shows the borrower's risk; higher interest usually means higher risk.

  4. Lesson 4: Funds: many investments in one

    7 min

    A fund pools money from many people and invests it for them. Active, index, mixed and money-market funds, what they cost, and the document to read first.

    Key points

    • One purchase buys you a small part of hundreds of investments.
    • Active funds try to beat the market and cost more; index funds follow a market at low cost.
    • Read the yearly running cost and the 1–7 risk score on the key information document before you buy.

  5. Lesson 5: Property: your home and beyond

    7 min

    Your home, a rental flat or a property fund. What property can do, what it costs, and why it is harder to sell than it looks.

    Key points

    • Your own home is mostly a place to live; it also brings costs, debt and the risk of one town's market.
    • A rental brings income, but also tax, repairs, empty months and work.
    • Property funds and listed property companies spread across many buildings, with share-like price swings.

  6. Lesson 6: Gold, oil and other commodities

    7 min

    Gold as a store of value in a crisis that pays no income, oil that swings with the world, and how people actually hold commodities.

    Key points

    • Gold pays no interest or dividend; after its 1980 peak its price took 28 years to come back (London gold price, 1980–2008).
    • Oil and other raw materials swing with the economy, the weather and politics.
    • Most people hold them through exchange-traded products or coins and bars, each with storage and cost questions.

  7. Lesson 7: Investing through insurance and savings plans

    7 min

    Assurance-vie, branch 21 and 23, unit-linked policies and fund savings plans: how they work, what they cost and what to ask before you sign.

    Key points

    • Many Europeans invest through life-insurance savings with a capital-protected part and a fund-linked part.
    • These wrappers can bring tax benefits, but often carry entry fees, yearly charges and exit penalties.
    • Get the total yearly cost and the exit terms in writing before you sign.

  8. Lesson 8: Putting it together: a side-by-side view

    7 min

    Every option compared on risk, income, cost and how easy it is to sell, and how long-term savers often combine a few of them.

    Key points

    • No investment is best at everything: safety, growth, income and easy access pull in different directions.
    • Many long-term savers combine cash, bonds and shares, often through low-cost funds.
    • Currencies and crypto get their own courses because their risks are of a different kind.

What’s inside

  • Short videos: About two minutes for each lesson
  • Quizzes: Three questions after each lesson
  • Calculators: Inflation, compound interest, an emergency fund and fees
  • Certificate: For every course you complete

The full lessons, videos and quizzes open after a free sign-in: your name, email, mobile number and a PIN. No card, no obligation.

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General financial education. Hallycon Academy does not manage money, sell investment products or give personal advice. Examples in the lessons promise no return.

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