MeritKeep

Break your own plan on purpose

Take the projection from the previous project, or any plan that currently works on its central assumptions, and find the point where it stops working. The interesting output is not "it fails" — every plan fails under a large enough shock. It is *what gives way first, and in which month*, because that is the only part anyone can prepare for.

Part of the Personal Finance & Investing course~105 minutesEvidence: a write-upWe mark it against a checklist you can read first
01 · What counts as done

What you have to hand in

  • A named, quantified, dated adverse scenario, justified from something that has actually happened.
  • The first thing that breaks, the month it breaks, and the margin by which it fails.
  • A response decided in advance, available at the moment it would be needed, with its own cost acknowledged.
  • A statement of what the test could not model, and which omission would matter most.
02 · How it will be marked

The checklist, published before you start

We score your work against each line below, and every score has to quote the part of your work it is based on. You read all of it first, so you can argue with any score on the specifics.
  • The first failure is located30% of the grade

    The submission says what gives way first, and when — not merely that the plan fails eventually.

    1. AbsentReports only that the plan survives or does not.
    2. DevelopingNames a failure without saying when it happens.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markNames the first thing to break and the month it does.
    4. StrongNames it, the month, and the margin by which it fails.
  • The adverse scenario is specific25% of the grade

    A named, quantified shock with a start date and a duration — not "things get worse".

    1. AbsentA vague downturn with no numbers.
    2. DevelopingQuantified but with no timing.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markQuantified, timed, and plausible.
    4. StrongPlausible, and justified from something that has actually happened.
  • There is a response, decided in advance25% of the grade

    What the plan's owner would do at the point of failure, chosen now rather than in the moment.

    1. AbsentNo response considered.
    2. DevelopingA response that is a hope rather than an action.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markA concrete action, available at the time it would be needed.
    4. StrongConcrete, with its own cost acknowledged.
  • It says what it could not model20% of the grade

    Every stress test omits something. The submission names what it left out.

    1. AbsentPresented as complete.
    2. DevelopingA general disclaimer.
    3. Competent— this is the pass markSpecific omissions named.
    4. StrongNamed, with a view on which omission would matter most.
03 · What this proves

The skills a pass would prove

Pass, and these skills count as proven, with this piece of work attached as the evidence.

This brief is part of the Personal Finance & Investing course

Starting it starts the course: every skill above, in the order they depend on each other, with this brief at the end as the thing you hand in — marked against the checklist you have just read and nothing else.

About three minutes to set up: what you want to do with Personal Finance & Investing, where you are starting from, and how many hours a week you actually have. The subject we already have from this page.Start the Personal Finance & Investing course
See the whole Personal Finance & Investing course, or every graded brief we run.

One cookie, so we can see which subjects people finish and where the site loses them — plus a replay of where you click. Nothing you type is recorded, and once you’re signed in the words on screen are blanked out too. No advertising, nothing sold. The detail.