1) Follow-up to earlier part of this thread: I called Fidelity about BrokerageLink. You can trade options (up to level 2, basically no spreads). But due to the nature of the account, it requires a paper application. Must be filled out, signed, scanned, and submitted via their secure messaging on the site.

2) Regarding risk, I think everyone is giving similar advice. Be careful. Start slow. Don’t risk too much of your portfolio on any single trade. That applies to both RE and options/futures. I just thought it was interesting that what sounds like safe, conservative options advice (don’t risk your retirement funds) actually exposes you to more risk (non-retirement accounts don’t have the built-in IRA safeguards) and wanted to make that clear for other newbies.