The Casino and the Landlord
In 2021 a wave of retail traders learned options as lottery tickets. On the other side of those trades sat a quieter investor: the retiree selling covered calls and cash-secured puts, renting out patience for income.
Financial Independence Tools
Financial independence, at every stage of life.
Financial independence gives you room to choose your work, your pace, and what comes next. FITools covers the career, money, investing, and retirement decisions that build and use that freedom.
Featured essays
Arguments and observations on work, money, investing, and the long arc of financial independence.
The Lambo and the Minivan: What the Internet Gets Wrong About Honest Work
The internet tells young men that jobs are for losers and sports cars are proof of success. Mike Rowe, a longtime advocate for skilled trades, and my crumb-filled minivan suggest otherwise.
Four Ways Retirees Try to Turn a Portfolio into a Paycheck
A dividend, Treasury payment, annuity check, and option premium may look alike after they land. The risk, obligation, or lost flexibility behind each payment determines whether it helped.
What makes an option worth selling
A short introduction to how FITools thinks about options research: start from a company worth owning, then ask whether the premium is worth the obligation. No predictions, just a repeatable checklist.
The FITools Handbook
Choose what you're working on.
Each path is free and complete without an email signup.
Career & earning power For choosing a career, changing direction, or making your current work more valuable. Money & financial independence For improving cash flow, raising your savings rate, and understanding what enough could look like. Investing For building a portfolio around patience, diversification, and decisions you can live with through a bad market. Retirement & drawdown For turning accumulated savings into spending, healthcare, tax, and estate decisions.
Browse every handbook topic