When Rob signed up in 2021, he didn't have a financial goal. He had a feeling.
I wouldn't say I had a specific goal, but I did have a worry about my pension.
He knew the Belgian state pension wasn't something he could fully count on. He had some visibility on what he'd get, but not much confidence in it.
I don't have a hundred percent confidence that what's on the government website is what you'll actually get. My biggest concerns are about where the Belgian government is heading.
So he started investing, modestly, to see what would happen.
When simulations made it real
When Rob first joined Curvo, the simulation feature didn't exist yet. He could invest, but he couldn't see where his investments might take him over time. When projections were added, something shifted.
The simulations really helped. With what I've got invested now, what does that actually mean by the time I retire? You start calculating and thinking further.
A vague worry turned into a number he could work with. Instead of "I should probably do something about my pension," he could see a projected outcome at retirement age and decide whether it was enough.
I didn't have a clear goal, but that goal has become much more concrete now. I want to make sure there's a solid budget ready by the time I reach retirement age.
Comparing a second property to staying the course
Once Rob could see his projected future, he started asking bigger questions. He already owned a home. Was buying a second property a better way to build wealth?
I started looking at: what else should I invest in? I've bought a house. Is it worth buying another one as an investment? The videos you'd posted comparing property and ETFs in the Belgian context really brought clarity.
For Rob, Curvo's content settled a question that the simulations had surfaced. The projection showed him where he stood; the Belgian property-versus-ETF comparison showed him he was already on a strong path.
The full picture
Rob credits Curvo not just with helping him invest, but with filling a gap in his financial education that school and family never covered.
Financial literacy for me hasn't been about how investments work. It's been more about what's a good basic strategy for handling money. That's knowledge I missed from my parents, missed from the schools I grew up in, and that I did get from Curvo.
The combination of the app and the content around it took him from "I should probably do something" to a plan he can actually track.
You might be wondering
Can you project your investments to retirement on Curvo?
Yes. Curvo's simulation feature lets you set a target age and see where your current portfolio and contributions are heading. That's what helped Rob turn a vague pension worry into a concrete number he could plan around.
Is buying a second property a better investment than ETFs in Belgium?
Rob weighed this himself after seeing his projections. Curvo's Belgian property-versus-ETF comparison videos helped him conclude that staying the course with diversified index investing made more sense for his situation than a second property.
Should you worry about your Belgian state pension?
Rob does, and he's not alone. He has some visibility on what the state pension promises, but doesn't fully trust it given the political uncertainty. That's precisely why he started investing for retirement on his own terms.
More from Rob
This is one of three stories from Rob's interview. Read the others: