I am harping on options, and I know that they are hard, but OMG

[sir pball]

My portfolio has been about 90% options over the last year, the vast majority of my trades have been the stocks to cover them, and…



To be fair, I have a professional manager; IBKR doesn't even let me trade on my own account.

It is a risky game, but risk comes with rewards…

[Frasier Balzov]

1. What a terrific return!

Has the strategy been mostly writing puts?

[sir pball]

2. As near as I can tell, it's both puts and calls...

I don't manage it myself, I Pay A Guy (0.1% per month) to do it, but when I look at my positions it seems pretty balanced…see here for my positions a few days ago: https://www.democraticunderground.com/11216725

[sir pball]

3. And as I go back and actually look at what I shared...

It's all calls. Dunno, I just know that it's working VERY well.

[Frasier Balzov]

4. You're buying a minimum of 100 shares

of an assortment of popular companies so that you can write call options and capture premium income.

[sir pball]

6. *I'm* not doing anything. My portfolio is managed.

To the point that I don't have trading access on it, just read-only.

That said, what David (my manager) is doing is clearly smart…I do get that a good call will get me good income but beyond that I let him do his wizardry.

[multigraincracker]

5. Reached my goal of not paying any interest

and now pay most my bills with earned interest. Hope to get some traveling in this summer.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. The AI wave, and leveraged ETFs, are available too

But that's just riding the AI wave. TQQQ would be equal in a rising market. The pudding is made when things tank.

[sir pball]

10. Yeah, but that's ultimately a lower yield market

It's definitely ripe, but at the end of the day both of them are going to be lower yield, albeit lower risk…and the reason I pay a guy with almost 60 years of experience is to take on that risk. To go full send, but be able to stick the landing.,

I mean, it's working out well for me so far…

[lastlib]

8. Options certainly are not for everyone.

If you can't afford to lose it, you shouldn't be risking it.

[sir pball]

9. This is entirely true.

That said, my manager has been working with my family for three generations–my grandfather initially hired him and he's handled my parents and mine and my sister's portfolios since then.

I know he's playing a high risk game, but he seems to be doing it quite well…and this is all aside from my personal income and savings, so the risk is kind of an "if I lose it all I'll still be okay on my own" kind of thing.