The money class school never taught. Minus the money.
Bullpen teaches teens how investing actually works: with a real curriculum, a simulator powered by real market data, and not a single real dollar anywhere in the app. This page explains exactly how, and what we will never do.
Six things that are true today and will stay true.
No real money, ever
Bullpen is a simulator. There is no brokerage account, no deposits, no card on file, and no payment rail connected to the portfolio. There is no way to spend or lose a real dollar inside the app.
A real curriculum
18 sequenced units covering investing, budgeting, credit, taxes, and retirement, each ending in a mastery quiz. Grounded in long-term fundamentals: index funds and compounding, not day-trading hype.
Not financial advice
Bullpen teaches concepts and provides a safe place to practice. It never recommends real investments. There is no crypto, no options trading, and no "hot stock" content anywhere in the app.
Minimal accounts
Bullpen uses Sign in with Apple to keep progress safe across devices. No email address, no password, no profile photo, no personal details beyond what Apple already secures.
No data selling, no ads
We don't sell personal data and we don't run advertising, targeted or otherwise. The full picture is in our privacy policy, written in plain English.
Healthy by design
Sessions are 5 to 15 minutes. Streaks reward showing up daily rather than binging. There are no public profiles, no comments, no DMs, and no follower counts.
Practice money is earned, not given.
The design detail we're proudest of: the only way to get investing money in Bullpen is to learn.
Completing a lesson pays about 100 coins. There are no coin purchases and no shortcuts: a teen's entire portfolio is proof of lessons finished.
Coins buy fractional shares at real market prices, with realistic delays. Wins feel earned and losses teach the same lesson the real market would, for free.
Trading unlocks after the stocks unit. Bank accounts unlock after the saving unit. Bonds unlock after the bond unit. Nothing is usable before it's understood.
Eighteen units, in the right order.
The full sequence runs from "what is money?" through stocks, funds, and bonds to credit, taxes, and retirement. Browse every unit on the curriculum page.
What money really is and why prices drift up.
Where cash lives, and how interest pays you to leave it there.
Why growth on top of growth beats saving harder.
Giving every dollar a job and spotting quiet drains.
How borrowing is priced and what a score really measures.
Brackets, withholding, and how gains get taxed.
The specifics, in plain English.
What personal data does Bullpen collect?
As little as we can get away with. Sign in with Apple provides an anonymous identifier, and a display name is optional. Learning progress, streaks, and the simulated portfolio sync through Apple's iCloud. We never see a real name, school, or location, and we never ask for them.
Is there an age limit?
Yes. Bullpen is for ages 13 and up, enforced by an in-app age gate at first launch. If someone enters a birthday under 13, the app locks and saves nothing about them.
Is there any social feature?
Friends are optional and added only by private invite code. Friends can see each other's weekly learning progress. There are no public profiles, no strangers, no chat, and no comments. Users can report or remove friends at any time.
Could my teen develop bad habits from a trading simulator?
We designed against it. The curriculum's center of gravity is boring-on-purpose investing: diversification, index funds, time in the market. The simulator has no leverage, no options, no crypto, and no margin. Games award progress points, never money. And because coins only come from lessons, grinding the simulator means learning more, not tapping more.
What does it cost?
Bullpen is free during early access. Pricing at launch will be announced ahead of time, and there are no coin purchases or pay-to-win mechanics either way.
Give them the reps before the stakes.
Join the waitlist and we'll email you when Bullpen is live on the App Store. One email, nothing else.
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