The Boring Alternative · Trading disasters
What if that $48k had stayed in a boring habit?
Editorial rewrite of a public “blew my account” post describing another ~$48,000 options hit while trying to dig out — versus S&P 500 DCA of the same capital from 2022.
Based on a real public Reddit case (r/wallstreetbets). We rewrote the facts — we did not copy the post. Source
What happened
Blew the account — another $48k week
A highly upvoted “blew my account” post described digging toward break-even with short-dated options, then losing about $48,000 again in the chase. Recovery trading is still trading. We simulate that $48k as index contributions instead.
The boring alternative
Same capital → S&P 500 DCA from 2022-01-07
We take $48,000 and spread it as equal weekly buys through 2026-08-28, then hold. That matches “invested periodically,” not a 15-minute options trade. Assumptions that are ours (round numbers, start dates) are called out above.
S&P 500$48,000 deployed · 2022-01-07 → 2026-08-28+$26,695 vs blind (+35.5%)Ended +35.5%Blind DCASteadyGrowThe difference
Trading path vs boring path
Trading outcome (stated)-$48,000Left from that path$0Boring alternative (index value)$75,281Wealth vs $0 left$75,281Vs the stated trading P&L of -$48,000, the boring ending value is a $123,281 swing in wealth outcomes — not a prediction of your next trade.
Blind DCA contributed ~$48,000. SteadyGrow sizing on the same budget ends near $101,975.
Lesson
What this is (and isn't)
“Truly done” posts often arrive after the second or third hole. The boring alternative does not care how close you were to break-even last Friday.
More counterfactuals
Nearby stories
Run your own scenario
Pick an amount and start year on our calculators — or follow weekly signals when you want the habit without the same-size blind buy every week.