I'm talking about Ramsey, not my own views. As for options, sure--depending how you trade, how small you trade, etc., they can be safe. But I will say option premium sellers are among the worst at going belly up: Karen the "Supertrader," Optionsellers.com and many lower profile firms and individual traders. It's so easy to pick up pennies in front of a train, i.e., make 5% per month through periods like 2016-17, then suddenly a month like Feb 18 or Dec 18 comes along. Ironically, Karen busted before that...in a stock market downturn that wasn't even very severe (fall 2014 I think).