Futures do not cost anything, however I include the margin requirement in the denominator, as well as any gain or loss of the futures position.
+
### Leveraged ETFs
+
+
A simple way to have leverage is buying a leveraged ETF. These might have high expense ratios, but may be worth it if you prefer less involvement. [SSO](https://www.proshares.com/our-etfs/leveraged-and-inverse/sso) is a an S&P500 2x leveraged ETF, and [UPRO](https://www.proshares.com/our-etfs/leveraged-and-inverse/upro) is 3x leveraged. You can generally find ETFs for any asset class. See the ones available from [ProShares](https://www.proshares.com/).
+
+
[This backtest](https://testfol.io/?s=dNsKlIX9Hh8) shows how they perform relative to the index. The [LETFs subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/LETFs/) has discussion on these.
+
### Margin loan
When you have stocks, brokers will let you take a margin loan of at least 50% or more of your equity value. This gives you at least 1.5 leverage, at the cost of margin loan interest, which is usually terrible at most brokerages. For example, Schwab will charge you 13% interest as of today (June 2025). If you cannot make more than 13% on the investments you do with leverage, you won't even break even. Interactive Brokers will give you a much better rate, for example 5%. This is an easier number to beat on investment return.