AutoPilot Your Wealth
Build Wealth with Rules, not Reactions
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A rules-based investing system designed to remove emotion and keep you disciplined through every market cycle.
I’m Pate Butler, a military aviator with 26 years in the cockpit, including Army rotary-wing and airline flying. In 2008, I watched my investments crater because I had opinions instead of a system. I had no rules, no plan for a crash, and no idea how to protect what I’d built.
That failure became the starting point for everything you see here. I spent over a decade studying options, testing strategies, and building a framework that treats investing the way I was trained to fly with checklists, defined rules, and a plan for when things go wrong.
AutoPilot Your Wealth is the result: a rules-based system using SPY LEAPS at the 40 delta, supported by a 4-year cash runway, and designed to beat the market average without requiring you to predict anything.
I trade this system with my own money. Every month, I show exactly what I do, every position, every roll, every number. No black boxes. No hidden strategies. Just rules.
Built by a Pilot. Tested by the Market.
The Three-Bucket System
AutoPilot Your Wealth divides your capital into three buckets, each with a specific job. Together, they’re designed to grow your wealth, generate retirement income, and survive market crashes all without requiring you to time the market.
Bucket 1: The Cash Runway (20%)
Three years of living expenses in high-yield savings or treasuries. This is your runway, it keeps you from ever being forced to sell during a downturn.
Bucket 2: Cash-Secured Puts (30%)
Generate steady income through cash-secured puts and covered calls. This bucket refills Bucket 1 and adds a layer of income without touching your growth engine.
Bucket 3: SPY LEAPS Strategy (50%)
The growth engine. Long-term SPY LEAPS options at the 40 delta, each backed by a 4-year cash runway. Designed to beat the S&P 500 with defined rules for entry, rolling, and position sizing.
What You’ll Find Here
Live Trading — Two Real Accounts
Every month I trade two real-money SPY LEAPS accounts on camera, a $200K Captain account and a $32K First Officer account. You see every position, every roll, and every decision.
Retirement Model Portfolio
A $1,000,000 model retirement portfolio running all three buckets — monthly withdrawals from Bucket 1, income generation in Bucket 2, and the LEAPS growth strategy in Bucket 3. Every trade logged and shown on screen.
Educational Video Series
The Foundational Flight Plan and the Glidepath to Retirement Series are a complete ground school that walks you through the entire system from the ground up. Options basics, position sizing, cash runway math, and the rolling mechanics that protect you in a crash.
Free weekly videos covering live trades, system education, and market analysis through the lens of a rules-based framework
Questions or Media Inquiries
For general questions, media requests, or speaking inquiries. Please note: this site does not provide personalized investment advice.