MONEY & MARKETS • RETIREMENT & SAVINGS
The S&P 500 has hit 27 record highs this year. You’d think retirement accounts would be fat. They’re not. Vanguard’s 2026 data covers nearly five million participants, and the median 401(k) for workers 55 to 64 is $107,269. Run the 4% rule and you get $357 a month. That’s a car payment, not a retirement. The average is $305,006… but averages lie. A few seven-figure accounts pull the whole curve up. Half the people within shouting distance of retirement have saved less than this. The market is up 13%. Doesn’t matter if you never had enough in it.
The one number that protects you
One number decides how much of your account is on the line in every options trade, and most traders never check it.
It's the percentage of your account you're willing to lose if the trade goes wrong.
Most beginners don't pick a number at all. They see a stock they like, buy as many contracts as they can afford, and hope. That's how one bad week wipes out months of gains.
Experienced traders pick the number first. Then they let it decide how many contracts to buy.
I put the exact percentage I use, and the two-step calculation that turns it into a contract count, into a short guide. It works the same on a $5,000 account or a $500,000 one.
Today it's free.
Even if math isn't your thing, it's two steps and takes about a minute.
P.S. Most options traders risk the wrong percentage of their account on every trade, and many don't pick a percentage at all.
I put the exact number I use, and the two-step math that turns it into a contract count, into a short guide. Today it's free.
At the standard withdrawal rate, that median pays out $357 a month — less than the average American spends on groceries.
