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Investing using leverage
Let's do a real example of leverage on the SPY. Imagine you have $20K today and plan on having $100K by JAN 2018.  You could get 100 shares of SPY and ride it out.  Maybe buying another 100 shares every few months until 2018, ending up with less than 500 shares to your name ( and zero cash in the bank ). or You could lever with DEC 2017 LEAP CALLS. They'll expire in 2.5 years, so you'd have to re-up sooner than your plan.   With 20K starting cash, in my example we'll go with 5 contracts to start with.  If we choose the $230 strike they'd cost $1250 each (putting roughly $6250 at risk).   The plan in is if the stock market goes up, you've got leverage.  You are the proud owner of contracts worth 500 shares of SPY and have only spent 1/3rd of your present day dollars.  If the market goes down in the next two years, sure, you lost the entire $6250, but likely saved $93,750 powder dry and can try your luck with the 2021 LEAPS.   Probably get down votes for this, but I'll even argue that proper use of leverage can very much reduce your risk.   One truth is you'll never get a margin call from holding long options.