I'm a Grow Rich Slowly Guy (Who Occasionally Plays Options)

Let me tell you what I actually do with my money. Not the sanitized version. The real one.

Most of my portfolio — the serious part, the part that funds retirement — is boring as hell. Long-term holds. Index exposure. ~13% annualized over time. That's the plan. That's always been the plan. Grow rich slowly. Don't be a hero. Let compounding do the work while you're off living your life.

I've watched friends chase 40% returns and blow up their retirement accounts in 2001, 2008, and 2022. Every time. Like clockwork. Meanwhile, boring wins. Not every year. Not even most years if you're watching too closely. But over 20 years? Boring destroys flashy.

And then there's the other thing

I also play options sometimes. Not with retirement money. With what I call fun money — a small percentage of the account carved off specifically to take calculated risks. The kind of money I can watch go to zero without blinking.

Yesterday I bought an ABT option. Abbott Labs. It's a swing trade — I think the stock has a move in it over the next few weeks, and I positioned accordingly.

Right now? I'm getting my ass handed to me.

Down on the position as I write this. The option is bleeding. This is not unexpected. This is, in fact, exactly how options work when you're early or just wrong. I risked $1,700. This position might turn into $2,500. It might go to zero. Either way, I know which scenario it is before the trade expires.

That's the point. I know my max loss going in. $1,700. Not a dollar more. With the ABT trade underwater right now, that number stares at me every time I check the position. And I check it, accept it, and move on with my day. The long-term portfolio is still compounding. The slow money doesn't care that the fun money is having a rough week.

The warning. Read this part twice.

Options can destroy you. This is not hyperbole.

I've seen it happen to careful, smart people who convinced themselves they understood the instrument better than they did. Options are leveraged products. A position that costs you $1,700 might represent $10,000, $20,000, or more in underlying exposure. When that goes the wrong way — and it will go the wrong way, repeatedly — the losses compound in a way that raw stock positions don't.

Equities can wreck you too. Don't get smug. A concentrated position in a single stock — especially a single sector — can turn a retirement account into a cautionary tale faster than any options play. The 2008 crowd who had 60% of their net worth in financial sector stocks found out.

Here's the rule that keeps me honest: options money is money I could lose entirely and still be fine. Not "fine" as in a little uncomfortable. Fine as in I don't change a single thing about my life. My ABT trade going to zero doesn't affect one meal, one trip, one bill. If it would, I'm risking too much.

This is not a philosophy I invented. This is the philosophy that keeps people solvent long enough to eventually win.

Why Schwab specifically

I've used other brokerages. I've had accounts at places that charge commissions, have terrible mobile apps, make options execution feel like filing a tax return, and put you on hold for 45 minutes when something's wrong. I have no patience for any of that at this stage of life.

Schwab does a few things right that matter to me:

• $0 commissions. I trade often enough that this used to sting at the old rates. Now it's free. Every options leg — buy, sell, close — $0 commission. The per-contract fee is a rounding error on most trades.
• Clean options execution. The options chain is readable. The interface doesn't fight you. For someone doing swing trades a few times a month, this matters more than you'd think.
• Phone support that's actually useful. I am 65. I want to be able to call a human when I have a question. Schwab has 300+ physical branches and 24/7 phone support. I've actually used it. It works.
• RMD tools. When you're at the age where required minimum distributions are real, you want a platform that handles them cleanly. Schwab does. Scheduling, calculation, distribution — it's all there.
• I trust the custodian. SIPC coverage, decades in business, survived multiple market crises. My money isn't at some startup brokerage I found on a Reddit thread. That matters.

The full picture

Most of my portfolio: long-term holds, broad exposure, ~13% annualized target over time. This is the boring engine. This is what actually builds wealth.

Small slice: swing trades, options when I see setups I like. This is entertainment. This is the part that keeps my brain engaged without threatening the engine.

Right now the ABT position is teaching me a lesson I already know: options don't care about your thesis in the short term. The stock hasn't done what I expected. The trade might still work. It might not. I'll find out.

Either way, I open Schwab tomorrow morning, check the position, decide whether to hold or cut, and go on with my day. The rest of the account keeps compounding. That's the whole game.

If you want to try Schwab — whether you're the boring long-term type, the occasional options player, or some mix of both — the referral link below gets us both a benefit. No drama. No catch.