What are the top 10 Commandments of Options Trading Strategies

Options Trading/Strategies

This blog is about the top 10 Commandments of Options Trading Strategies.

Options trading is a complex and often risky business. However, by following some simple rules, options traders can increase their chances of success while minimizing their losses.

Option strategies are the simultaneous, and often mixed, buying or selling of one or more options that differ in one or more of the options’ variables. Call options, simply known as calls, give the buyer a right to buy a particular stock at that option’s strike price. Conversely, put options, simply known as puts, give the buyer the right to sell a particular stock at the option’s strike price. This is often done to gain exposure to a specific type of opportunity or risk while eliminating other risks as part of a trading strategy. A very straightforward strategy might simply be the buying or selling of a single option; however, option strategies often refer to a combination of simultaneous buying and or selling of options.

Options strategies allow traders to profit from movements in the underlying assets based on market sentiment (i.e., bullish, bearish or neutral). In the case of neutral strategies, they can be further classified into those that are bullish on volatility, measured by the lowercase Greek letter sigma (σ), and those that are bearish on volatility. Traders can also profit off time decay, measured by the uppercase Greek letter theta (Θ), when the stock market has low volatility. The option positions used can be long and/or short positions in calls and puts.

Below are the 10 Commandments of Options Trading:


  1. Do your homework. Before entering into any options trade, make sure you understand the underlying security, as well as the risks and rewards associated with the trade.
  2. Have a plan. Options trading is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Carefully craft a plan that takes into account your investment goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
  3. Use stop-loss orders. A stop-loss order is an order to sell an asset when it reaches a certain price point—the point at which the loss on the trade would become too great to bear. By using stop-loss orders, options traders can limit their losses on any given trade.
  4. Let winners run. Once an options trade is profitable, resist the urge to take profits too early. Instead, let the trade run its course and reap the full rewards of a successful trade.
  5. Cut losers short. On the other hand, when an options trade is going against you, don’t be afraid to exit the position and take your losses. Trying to “fight” the market will only lead to further losses.
  6. Manage your risk exposure. One of the most important aspects of successful options trading is managing risk exposure. Make sure you don’t have too much of your portfolio invested in any one security or sector. Diversification is key to mitigating risk in options trading (or any kind of investing).
  7. Use limit orders. A limit order is an order to buy or sell an asset at a specific price—the price at which you are willing to enter into the trade. By using limit orders, options traders can better control their risk exposure and avoid getting caught up in volatile markets.

8 . Be patient . Patience is a virtue in all aspects of life, but it’s especially important in options trading . Don’t enter into trades just because you’re feeling antsy—wait for opportunities that meet your investment criteria . And once you’ve entered into a trade , resist the urge to “trade emotionally” and instead let your original analysis play out . Over-trading is one of the biggest mistakes options traders can make .

9 . Stay disciplined. Like patience, discipline is also key to success in options trading . Once you’ve developed a sound investment strategy , stick to it ! Don’t let emotions influence your trades — if anything , emotion should be kept out of trading altogether . The best way to do this is by developing a clear set of rules that you always follow when making trades . If you can do this , you’ll be well on your way to success as an options trader.

10. Have realistic expectations . Finally, it’s important to have realistic expectations when trading options . Remember : there are no guaranteed winners in options trading ! Every trade involves some degree of risk, so don’t expect to win every single time. If you approach each trade with reasonable expectations and focus on long-term success, however, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a successful options trader


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What are the top 10 Commandments of Options Trading Strategies

Furthermore:

  • Thou shall always take 100% daily gains or 200% all time gains.
  • Do not fall into temptation and buy during the first 30 minutes of market open. (Selling positions is still permitted)
  • Thou shall not buy calls on green days.
  • Thou shall not buy puts on red days.
  • Avoid greed and do not buy consecutive options on 1 company.
  • Give thyself at least 3 weeks time to play the option.
  • End your suffering and sell if down 50% all time on an option play.
  • Avoid gluttony and do not day trade options. (Swing trades allowed)
  • Be fruitful, multiply earnings and sell covered calls if holding any.
  • Celebrate and binge drink after big gains (or losses)
  • Off topic, but relevant – You absolutely need to be doing a 401k or IRA as well as investing in crypto: 401ks and IRAs offer fantastic tax advantages that straight investing does not. Also if you have an employer who matches you are leaving money on the table by not taking advantage of that. It’s foolish. Crypto is great and should definitely be in your portfolio but it should not be your whole portfolio.
    Sources:
    1- WallStreetBets
    2- Wikipedia

Options trading can be complex and risky business, but by following some simple rules traders can increase their chances of success while minimizing losses

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Moved to a new country so I had no credit, 30% of my "engineering salary" goes to my mom as my part of living expense (probably did not cover my expenses but my mom was trying to help me so 30% was what we agreed on), on top of that I financed a used car (cost $9k) with 10% interest because of zero credit. 2019: Got a raise this year, still a below average engineering salary. My mom and I bought a house "together". I did not pay any of the down payment, but my mom and I split evenly between all the bills and house mortgage/ property tax. Still paying the auto loan. 2020: Company A was bought by Company B, our whole team was also merged to work for Company B in Q2. This was during Covid, I was luckily to not get laid off and got a pay raise when started working in Company B. Starting to put a lot in my 401K and opened an stock trade account. I was able to pay off my car early. 2021: This is the year where I started to feeling financially stable and feeling I had saved a lot. This is also the year that I felt not fulfilled with the industry I was in and started thinking about pursuing my dream in aerospace. With the help of my coworkers and supervisors and encouragement from my mom, I applied to school and got admitted to study master's in aerospace. I started school online part time while working full time. 2022: I got into an accident and my car was totaled. I bought another used car for $16k (financed through my mom lol). I got a job offer from an aerospace company after months of job searching. I quitted my job in Company B and went to Company C in a LCOL city to pursue my dream despite the pay cut. I was still paying half of the MCOL house expense after I moved. My stock trade account also lost quite a lot of money after the market crash, from the random stocks I recklessly purchased (smh). With the car payment, stock market crash, tuition expense and the pay decrease, my net worth gain was almost static comparing to 2021. 2023: I was reached out by a former co-worker on him needing help for his engineering company (same industry as Company A & B). I have been able to make extra money from that (avg ~$70/hr). Company C's tuition assistance benefit also kicked in and it paid part of my tuition. I moved into a house with a roommate and my part of rent is only $500(!!!). These brought down my expenses a lot. I also have a very very tight budget giving I still need to pay parts of the house my mom is living in. All of that allows me to save $900 a month. On the investment side, I have been slowly shifting my investment in my stock trade account to S&P 500 (still losing ~$8k from my reckless choices of individual stocks from Covid time lol). I opened Roth IRA and have been using the 3-fund portfolio strategies. I also put some of my money in T-bills as it gives slightly higher rate than my HYSA. I am very lucky that my mom has my back always and corporate benefits definitely expedited the process. Switching industry and chasing my dream was 200% worth it. I am way happier with what I am doing right now and it doesn't matter if I am making less than before. I am looking forward to next year where I will finish my master's degree. Not having school would allow me to spend more time on the side hustle to make more money if I want to. I am hoping to loosen my budget a little bit and travel to other countries. I would also love to make $100k+ annually before 30. My LDR girlfriend and I are looking to move in together in a MCOL city in 1 to 2 years and hopefully buy our own house in 5 years(??). I can't wait to see the next $100k coming since everyone says it'd be easier!! submitted by /u/whywouldiassume [link] [comments]

  • (m21)I feel content at ~24k a year, why all the pressure to make more money?
    by /u/Lanky-Carob-4601 (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 3, 2023 at 2:06 am

    Hello financial people, bear with me🐻, it sounds like something that should be on r/simpleliving, but I wanted to share an interesting perspective. I’d say I am pretty lucky and privileged given my circumstances. I feel pretty financially independent in my life already as I have all of my needs met and most of my wants met, with TONS of free time. And I try to understand why go through all the hassle for MORE? Wondering if some of you have felt the same way and what changed your mind to acquire more wealth? And Would YOU say that I am already financially independent given my goals and contentment? Here’s some stats… -I live in Chico California, in a semi modern 2 bedroom apartment with one Roomate(great location right near downtown)-$600/mo -my income is just doordash 4-5 hours a day -phone paid $30/mo(cell service) -car paid for and runs great(vintage 4x4);) -my e-moped loan is $100/mo (I use this for doordash) -my insurance is $60/mo -student loans $50/mo -I GET NO FINANCIAL HELP FROM FAMILY (Other than small presents for the holidays) $1400 emergency fund in a high yield savings account. (Not great Ik but I add 3-400 to it every month) -trade school at cc(free tuition) LONG TERM MONEY GOALS: -some sort of retirement -move to denmark(my long term gf is a citizen) -continue doing the hobbies I enjoy! I am able to afford a lot of things I enjoy too, I go on surf trips every month and visit family, go on dates with my girlfriend and sometimes eat out. I’m really into watercoloring rn. And I get plenty of exercise running,hiking or yoga/weight lifting at home. So the consensus is I feel like I am at the perfect balance of work/life. But my parents/media urge me to have a high salary career, degree, house, children, ect. For what!? Don’t feel very hungry for those goals, lots of commitment/responsibility in a career sounds dreadful, I enjoy apartment living/roomates and the thought of kids scare me and my girlfriend anyways, I can barely take care of my plants (also having children is one of worst things you could do to the environment). So I feel like going to school is setting me up for “golden shackles”. Im seeing a pattern that the standard of living keeps getting higher, and it’s like “you have to be a bodybuilder now in order to be considered healthy” Anyways LIFES DUCKING GREAT! The only things that could make me feel insecure about my income are health insurance(when 25) ,retirement, a medical emergency and a recession. Which the last 2 I feel like could frick anyone up regardless. I think if I made over 50k, I’d have so much excess I wouldn’t know what to do with it( I’d be working way more with no time to do anything fun too). If you got this far thank you for the read! submitted by /u/Lanky-Carob-4601 [link] [comments]

  • Went from $50k net worth to $4.5mm in 10 years
    by /u/fstezaws (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 3, 2023 at 1:37 am

    This post isn’t meant to brag, but simply to share my successes in hopes that someone can learn something from them. I’m certainly not the smartest person, but hey, I would love the chance to talk with others about personal finance because most I know have a desire to be open and vulnerable about the topic. I love learning from others so maybe some of you can teach me a thing or two about planning for the future. I appreciated a few recent posts that mentioned, “I don’t have anyone I can talk about this with”, and realized maybe this is a platform of like-minded individuals who could either appreciate this post for what it is, or, contribute to some good dialogue that could help me or others. I (39M) never went to college and started my own business at the age of 22. I never really had a real job either as I just worked for my dad's small business from 16-23. I have always had a knack for picking up things fairly quickly, and knew at age 21 I’d really just like to work for myself and have a business of my own. I was a ‘solopreneur’ for about 8-9 years and developed expertise as a technician in a specific field and became quite good at it. I made good money for about 4-5 years but knew I would never be able to provide a good retirement, and I was actively looking for a transition to a new career. At about age 29 I came up with an invention that would help me as a technician to do my job better. Long story short—I designed a product, patented it, and pitched it on Kickstarter all in about a 6 month time period and it took off like a rocket from day 1. It has now been 10 years since I started it and I’ve been able to build a significant net worth from it. At the time of launching this new business, I would imagine my net worth was maybe $50-70k, mostly comprised of a small amount of home equity, personal and business property, and about $10k across cash and savings. Today, by the good grace of God, I have a net worth of about $5mm based on conservative estimates. Here is the gist of my net worth: Checking + HYSA = $410k (all non business) Brokerage (non retirement) = $195k Retirement accounts (401k, IRA, SEP, wife IRA) = $520k Home #1 equity = ($500k mortgage, $1,400,000 value) = $900k equity Home #2 equity = ($171k mortgage, $450,000 value) = $279k equity. This is on the market to sell as we just moved into our new home Rental home #1 = ($0 mortgage, $250k value) = $250k equity Office building = ($175k mortgage, $450k value) = $275k equity 529 funds for 2 kids = $90k Automobile assets = ($140k loans, $240k value) = $100k equity Book value of business assets = $1,523,000 This is purely what’s on the balance sheet, not the enterprise value. Based on the latest valuation I had done, if I sold it I sort of anticipate net proceeds to be around $4mm, but I don’t track this as part of my net worth, only book value and/or liquidation value. Effective total net worth = $4,542,000 Gist of my current income: $210k W2 salary to myself $200k in additional cash distributions to myself $46k from rental income (Rental home, Office building leased to my business) When I started the business, the first Kickstarter was a huge success so I had a very large influx of cash right away. While my previous business had about $30-40k at my high points, I now had almost 10x that amount. I certainly splurged on a few home projects to the tune of about $10-12k in the first 3 months and then tried to be fairly disciplined with how the future success continued to grow. The first 12 months of the business I did about $800k in revenue and I knew I was making good profit. Over the next 4 years I doubled revenue each year, hitting about $5mm revenue in year 5. I kept a stable income of about $7-8k/mo and always felt weird giving myself a raise, even though I may have had like $500k in cash in the bank. I went from 1 employee in year one to about 9 in year 4. I started a 401k in about year 4 and did matching contributions and tried to max out mine every year. From about 2017-2021 I had amassed about $250k in my 401k as I also did profit sharing. I felt proud contributing significantly to my team members’ 401k as well via profit sharing in order to meet the safe harbor requirements to max mine out. In about 2018 my CPAs told me to max my salary to about $300k to maximize the most profit sharing I could get. I didn’t quite get it at the time, but I just went along with their advice. This was a HUGE increase in W2 income (I think I was at like $150k salary at the time) and so I ended up saving about 40% of it after taxes and put it into a HYSA and other funds. I also started contributing regularly to 529 plans and personal brokerage accounts, as well as setting cash aside for future investments and cushion. For about 4-5 years straight my AGI was $1m+. In 2018 I had I started socking away cash, to the tune of about $400k for 2 years until the pandemic. In early 2020 I reduced my salary by about 50% and try and live as lean as possible until we got through the pandemic. Thankfully the business survived and is doing much better now. Lessons learned along the way related to finance: Live on WAY less than you make. Life style creep is real. I tend to be fairly risk averse and like to have lots of buffer. It helps reduce anxiety and stress for me. Learn the importance of cash flow. Create buffer all all things—save for a rainy day, cautiously approach risk, be realistic about growth plans. Invest in yourself! While it’s great to grow a brokerage account that maybe gets 10% annual growth, the return you get on investing in yourself is FAR greater, by orders of magnitude. I have learned SO much in 10 years and my capabilities have grown tremendously. Your own personal abilities and knowledge is inflation-proof and it can never be taken away. So invest in yourself. As a side note, my ROCE for current assets held by the business can be anywhere from 40-65% per year, so I don’t mind investing into the business because its better than trying to grow it via other assets. The more control I have over the asset, the much better return I can get. Know your personal costs and track everything. If you don’t know what you are spending, you are allowing your money to control you. Take control of it and it will reduce a LOT of anxiety and stress. Once you have clarity on your living expenses, you can create a plan that allows you to save, invest, and produce cashflow. If you are running a business, pay yourself first because no one else will. While you need to focus on scaling the business and investing into it, you also should be taking money off the top along the way. There is no guarantee in anything, so start saving for a rainy day. I know too many entrepreneurs who crashed and burned and had nothing to show for it other than experience. Crashing and burning isn’t the worst part if you were able to create a nest egg along the way. This has a lot to do with “don’t put your eggs in one basket”. If you want to grow your business, learn how to read your financial statements and learn how to forecast into the future. The better visibility I have into the future, the less anxious I feel about the future. Set aside money for taxes on each dollar made. It’s SO much easier to have a savings account for taxes where you treat it as someone else’s money. This reduces stress around tax return time as you already have it funded. I don’t know whether this will resonate with anyone or not, but, I’m just putting this out into the world. I’m very much open to advice on anything! (edited for formatting) submitted by /u/fstezaws [link] [comments]

  • From NEET to 2M NW at 34
    by /u/Bitnig1 (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 2, 2023 at 10:12 pm

    Posting my story and stats as with the recent rally everyone has been hitting milestones. I think my situation is somewhat unique given I was a NEET (not in education, employment, or training) for 3 years after graduating. I mostly spent the time smoking weed and playing video games. Very bad mental health at the time. Now I'm 34, married with a 2yo. We are extremely frugal on all things except housing. We're Asian so it's in our blood to buy real estate. I don't have much advice, just felt like bragging My wife also makes an additional 100K with 300-400K assets. Her finances are separate and I don't keep an eye on it and do not track it. All expenses come from my side. Salary progression 2012-2015: 0 CAD, graduated, NEET. 2015-2017: 90K CAD 2017-2020: 120k CAD - new job 2020: 400K USD - new job, moved to USA 2021: 450K USD 2022: 500K USD - promo, but stock dropped a lot 2023: on track for 680K USD - stock rebound and 40K in rental income. NW Progression 2015: 60K CAD from 6 internships, parents help 2017: 150K CAD, lived at home, almost 0 expenses. 2018: 400K CAD, cashed out some btc from 2017 peak. 2020: 700K USD Got First year RSU vesting and investing during covid recovery 2021: 1.5M : income, crypto run-up, got 400K from parents to buy a townhouse 2022: 1.6M : income offsetting loss in stocks and crypto 2023: 2M : Stock and crypto recovery Current Breakdown Townhouse rental: 750K, no mortgage. Generating 3500/m income. Valuing at 650K to account for selling fees. Planning to sell once tell estate market rebounds. Primary Residence: 800K. Purchased in 2023 for 1.8M with 1M down payment at 5.5%. Removing 200K equity to account for selling fees. HYSA: 100K VTI: 250K 401K: 50K - started this year Btc/crypto - 200K. I have negative cost basis after selling in 2017. Not planning to sell anymore unless btc > 150K this cycle Next steps: aggressively investing in VTI and increase liquidity of my networth. Start refocusing on my career and try to hit Senior Staff Engineer. Long term goal is to hit fatFire with at least 6.6M present value (200k at 3% SWR). Aiming to get there by late 40s then retire when my kid is close to college and go back to playing video games lol. submitted by /u/Bitnig1 [link] [comments]

  • Volunteering in your community with financial planning pre/post-FIRE?
    by /u/RegularBeanEater (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 2, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    Wondering if anyone has done this already or has advice on the pros/cons. For context: I am one of those people who enjoys organizing and tracking my finances, reading about tax strategy, etc. I have helped a few friends set up Vanguard accounts and walked them through how to invest in index funds, etc. Recently I helped my mom consolidate a bunch of accounts (some of which she lost the logins for) and invest her money since she never really figured any of it out post divorce and was too afraid to even look. I’ve found this intimidation is common amongst the women in my life (I am also one) and would love to find a way to help people in my community establish some of these basics and feel more in control of their financial life. I also quite enjoy it. Question #1: Would there be any legal implications to offering these services voluntarily? I am not a financial advisor or anything, I work in tech as a data analyst but would be open to getting some kind of certification if it helps. I would be recommending very basic concepts like reducing taxable income, setting up IRAs and brokerages and investing them in target date/index funds, consolidating debt, etc. Nothing crazy or outside the prime directive. Question #2: Is anyone aware of an organization that already does this? I have not had much success searching online, only for some programs that teach basics to high school students. Bonus points if it in the LA area or remote. If not, maybe I’ll look into starting my own in my community. Thanks! submitted by /u/RegularBeanEater [link] [comments]

  • Rule of 25 vs 4% Rule?
    by /u/CafeRoaster (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 2, 2023 at 7:21 pm

    Hey y'all. I need some clarification here. If I use the 4% rule, it makes retirement seem impossible. However, if I use the Rule of 25, it seems very possible. Here's what I'm working with: Household income = $150,000 Core expenses (Expenses, Less Savings, Mortgage, Child expenses) = $2,400 The 4% Rule $150,000 / .04 = $3,750,000 The Rule of 25 2,400 x 12 x 25= $720,000 ​ These are wildly different numbers. Which one do I believe? submitted by /u/CafeRoaster [link] [comments]

  • Luck + Marriage -> LeanFI! Approx ~$3M Networth, DINK early 30s couple VHCOL area
    by /u/unhumblebraggart (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 2, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    Hi folks! Sharing a bit of how we hit LeanFI this year! One big TLDR here: who you fall in love with and marry has a big impact on your FI journey. My networth started at ~$700k in 2023 and is on track to approximately quadruple this year from the ~20% SP500 appreciation + 2 very lucky events: 1) One the private companies/ startups I joined early and worked at and had equity in had an exit event that netted me a ~$600k windfall post-capital gains tax. My career journey is from entry level FP&A analyst ($50k per year salary) -> buyside data analyst ($100k per year salary) -> turned software engineer/ engineering manager (~$200k per year salary). My 2 other startups have not exited yet and have all received downrounds in 2022/2023 following the crazy Softbank/TigerGlobal investment during the Covid era. So it really is luck of the draw if you ever get lucky financially by working at startups. 2) Marriage to someone else with approximately equal net worth to myself. My partner is a currently unemployed former finance professional, they quit their insanely long hours job approximately 1 year ago after hitting the ~$1.5M net worth mark to take a well-deserved break and are currently figuring out what career is next. We are the same age and they've also been working for 10+ years, gradually climbing the ladder from entry level buyside analyst -> senior analyst -> mid-level sell-side banking role. Their final few years salary + bonus pre tax averaged approximately $450k per year, but the hourly pay was much lower than a typical software engineers 🙂 since they worked nights and weekends most weeks. Until 2+ years after we started dating and seriously talked about our long term futures, I had no idea they also had a good amount saved up since they were spending like a sailor eating at Michellin restaurants and stuff all the time. Asset Allocation & Future Plans Both of our networths are virtually all in a 70/30 stock vs cash/bonds allocation, with me having a bit more of my money in private illiquid stock and her in SP500 indexes and some life insurance stuff that's tax advantaged. All in fidelity/vanguard/ishares etc. Approximately 20% of our total networth is illiquid and locked up in 401ks from maxing it out each year, but both of us invested that portion poorly (she was too heavy on cash, I was too heavy on international equities). My robinhood brokerage portfolio of $100k "playmoney" has slightly beat the SP500 over the last ~6 years thought but I'm sure my sharperatio is lower. Real estate keeps growing faster than inflation in my geography but we don't own anything because we didn't wanna be tied down in case we need to move to a different geography for career. Up until we moved in together my rent averaged <$20k per year due to living with roommates in a shoebox apartment so it wasn't eating that much of my paycheck relatively. We are only LeanFI in our VHCOL unfortunately and housing prices keep going up and up in this country. We are thinking about kids and that's expensive so will still need to keep working to afford private school/ daycare for kids + home health aids for when we are older because who knows if we will have kids that will take care of us. America is expensive! But we are very lucky and next phase of our lives will probably be much less focused on careers and much more focused on raising good kids. submitted by /u/unhumblebraggart [link] [comments]

  • Answer will be completely subjective, to people include a paid off home in their net worth value?
    by /u/dipcupdipcup (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 2, 2023 at 4:20 pm

    I can logic for both. It is an asset you own and get sell with access to value... but you also need it to live and selling the home you own creates problem. Thoughts got including it in planning? submitted by /u/dipcupdipcup [link] [comments]

  • Daily FI discussion thread - Saturday, December 02, 2023
    by /u/AutoModerator (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 2, 2023 at 10:02 am

    Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions on the basics of personal finance/investing topics are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against memes/spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness/politics still apply! Have a look at the FAQ for this subreddit before posting to see if your question is frequently asked. Since this post does tend to get busy, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts. submitted by /u/AutoModerator [link] [comments]

  • I’m FIREd now what?
    by /u/GayFIREd (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 1, 2023 at 8:50 pm

    Although I’ve only been folllowing this redit and listening to podcasts for a year or so, it seems I’ve already been on this journey my whole life, having been raised with similar guiding principles. I’m now 38, in a VHCOL city. Although my career has been mediocre (starting salary $65k -> $110k), working and saving fairly consistently, making several lousy and a few lucky investments, I’m technically FIREd. I have a seasonal rental, which I run in the summer months (so essentially coastFIRE), and makes enough for my annual expenses. I started this side hustle 3 years ago with some Covid-prompted delusion I’d quite my job and be a beach bum. With the rental more under control, and one more year syndrome for three more years, I have that much more of a cushion and think I’m ready to go. With some plan to have a life less revolving around work, I’d intend to run the property spring to fall, spend family time nearby around the holidays, and then slow travel the first three months of the year. If travel allure begins to fade, maybe I’ll use retirement to be a single dad, that would surely solve the “what do I do with my time”’worry. Even within the FI community my potential path doesn’t have many other wanderers walking. submitted by /u/GayFIREd [link] [comments]

  • A freshly minted millionaire
    by /u/DevelopmentOwn4977 (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 1, 2023 at 8:07 pm

    I am 40 years old, married (no kids yet), on a W2 income, and on November 30, 2023, at market close, I reached a milestone - I reached a liquid net worth of 1 million dollars. Breakdown can be found here - https://i.postimg.cc/V6qdMcP6/mil.jpg This is not a thread with me bragging (as you will see), but more about the reality of chasing the dream of being a millionaire. I will talk about the good things, and the bad things I went through to get to this point. I dreamed of this day for a very long time. When I started tracking net worth in 2014, this seemed impossible...but I know I wanted to get there. These are some of the milestones ever since I started tracking my net worth - Saturday, September 6, 2014 - $114,661.49 (First time I checked my net worth) Saturday, February 16, 2019 - $272,514.52 (Reached $250k) Saturday, November 7, 2020 - $508,205.99 (Reached $500k) Wednesday, October 20, 2021 - $769,522.32 (Reached $750k) Thursday, November 30, 2023 - $1,001,936.79 (Reached $1mil) My home value is $168000. I don't count it towards my net worth. I live in a low cost of living area. Both my wife and I work full-time. We are blessed with good health, although this is about to change. Sacrifices Getting to this point meant I had to give up a lot of things. I am very glad I gave up some things, but I truly, deeply regret giving up some others. The most important of which is time with my family. In the pursuit of work, career, and money, I gave up time with my family (specifically my parents, my grandmother, and my aunt). I will never get this back. My grandmother passed away and I did not get to see her because she passed away during Covid. This is something that will haunt me forever, and no amount of money will ever make the pain and regret go away. Need for meaning in life I am not bragging when I say this, but I truly feel that I am a net positive to my community. I feel like I have a lot of good to offer to the world. The surest way I can do this is by having a child. This dream is slipping away. IVF is our last shot. If this doesn't work, then we are the last of us. Observations While I feel a small sense of pride for having reached the top of the mountain, I don't think I am any more or less happier than I have been. Relationship with your family and friends is what truly matters. If you have a good relationship with your family, you are rich beyond measure. The road to becoming a millionaire is almost never going to be smooth. Do not get discouraged if you suffer setbacks in life. I wish I could talk about the setbacks I suffered in life. For legal reasons I can't. While it is very important to not let money dictate your life, it is equally important to understand the importance of money. I am VERY thankful to myself for not giving in to temptations and buying a lot of junk in the name of living spontaneously or YOLO. Controlling your impulses is very important for being successful in life and becoming wealthy. I imagine that some of the things I am talking about are like preaching to the choir, but I hope my experience helps someone out there. Feel free to ask me any questions. I will be more than happy to answer anything. EDIT 1 - Income Information (AGI) Some folks asked me what our income was, so here are the details - 2018 - $90,630.00 2019 - $91,090.00 2020 - $98,034.00 2021 - $111,061.00 2022 - $120,713.00 EDIT 2 - Contributions to investments This is the total amount that went into all the accounts. 401k, HSA, Roth IRA, brokerage etc. 2019 - $47,356.59799 2020 - $103,949.4706 2021 - $126,373.0579 2022 - $100,215.00 2023 - $79,292.48 (so far) EDIT 3 - Yearly Expenses 2018 - $18,302.60 (Very very good year) 2019 - $32,975.02 2020 - $30,678.10 2021 - $21,275.24 (Fantastic year from an expense perspective all things considered) 2022 - $49,147.89 ($15k of it was for a new car, paid via savings) 2023 - $21,086.21 (pretty good, but it really could have been better) submitted by /u/DevelopmentOwn4977 [link] [comments]

  • Does holding assets in Trad IRA preclude me from Backdoor Roth?
    by /u/LantanaFunSaver (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 1, 2023 at 7:22 pm

    Stats: 42yo. 220,000 annual salary. 180k in 401k at Fidelity. 110k in HYSA (saving for a down payment). 20k in taxable brokerage, 15k in Traditional IRA, 15k in Roth IRA all at Vanguard. Currently maxing out my 401k contributions (after a late start). Once I was above the income threshold for contributing to a Roth IRA, I started contributing to a traditional IRA. But now I'm realizing that there is no benefit in doing this, and may actually preclude me from doing a Backdoor Roth. Is this correct? And if so, what should be my next step? Should I convert all my Traditional IRA holdings into Roth and pay the tax so that I can start fresh with a zeroed out Trad IRA? Can I roll my Trad IRA holdings into my current workplace 401k? If my Trad IRA holdings are all Vanguard ETFs, and my 401k only offers Fidelity ETFs, would they have to sell and rebuy? Are there tax implications? Or should I just leave well enough alone and avoid the tax reporting headaches? submitted by /u/LantanaFunSaver [link] [comments]

  • $100k Net Worth at 26 with only a modest income - Summary
    by /u/Dazzling_Street_3475 (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 1, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    After a stellar November by the S&P500, I hit a NW of $103k at age 26. I technically probably hit it a week or two ago, but I update my NW tracker only once a month on the 1st. It feels good, but I knew it was coming so the emotion is muted. I was thinking about celebrating in some form but didn't know how. Anyway, This write-up is mainly for myself but wanted to share my progress over the past few years and how I got here. This will probably end up being a long post. To start, I am not career-oriented at all. I have little desire to move up the corporate ladder and have no career passion. I work a modest corporate job with little responsibility, fully remote. If it wasn't fully remote, I would seek a job that was, or at least was hybrid. My degree is in finance, however, I wish I studied software solely for the income those people get now. 2019: I graduated from a good state school in May. NW was prob close to -$10k. In September, I start my career in accounting with a 55-hour/week job paying $55k in a MCOL city. I'm living with a roommate, and able to save accordingly. I focused on establishing a 5-month emergency fund. Income for the year = $19k NW at end of year = -$3k. 2020: I lose my job in April due to COVID. About 3 weeks ago this, I start doing construction just to get some money and pay my bills. In September, I take the first fully remote job offered with a starting salary of $54,000. I'm happy it's fully remote and only 40 hours, as 55 sucked. Move into a new place with 2 roommates now, and rent goes down even more. Income for the year = $45k NW at end of year = $21k. 2021: I got promoted in April to $62,400 (15% raise) and get a $2k bonus. Work is good. I move across the country a few times as my girlfriend starts travel nursing, and I work remotely so I just go with her. Probably one of the greatest years of my life. I get a few bonuses throughout the year due to a generous manager and performance from me. Bills are pretty low, and I'm saving about 40% of my net income and putting most of it into my 401k. Income for the year = $67k NW at end of year = $61k. 2022: I get a decent raise of 6% in April and my base salary goes up to $66,000. We continue traveling until May, then decide to move back home as COVID slows down and travel nursing contracts are getting weaker and harder to find. Savings rate goes up to about 45%, and I'm aggressively saving to try and counter a terrible year for stocks. Although my base goes up, I don't get nearly as much in bonuses. Income for the year = $66k NW at end of year = $75k 2023: Raise in April is only 3.5% and my base salary is now $68,400. My girlfriend and I split up soon after and my savings rate goes down significantly. Bonuses for the year will probably total around $2k. I sign a new lease in August as I decide I'm going to live alone. Savings rate is currently about 20% of net pay per month. Income for the year = ~$69k Current NW = $103k Currently: My take-home pay is roughly $4.7k/month, and my bills are around $3.8k/month. Total assets are $137k Total liabilities are $34k (mix of student loans, CC, and car loan) 2024: I plan to move for the hell of it this summer. If I'm lucky, I'll get promoted this year and think my income will jump to around $78k. Who knows what will happen with the market but I'll hope for the best. Summary: I was lucky to always have roommates or someone to split costs with as my NW grew. This was key for me. I don't consider my income high by any means and don't think I'll make $100k until I'm well into my thirties at my current company. I have no plans to have a family anytime soon, but I'd like to buy a home within 5 years. I suspect my NW growth to slow down significantly until I'm in another relationship and we're living together Goal is to increase income as soon as possible. Don't think I'll hit 250k until my early 30s. No set retirement goal ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ submitted by /u/Dazzling_Street_3475 [link] [comments]

  • In Plan Roth Conversion w/ a Traditional IRA
    by /u/74Kilos (Financial Independence / Retire Early) on December 1, 2023 at 2:37 pm

    I started a new job about a year ago that allows for in plan Roth conversions. I've maxed my pretax contributions for the year and my elections right now are going to after tax so that I can continue to receive the employer match. I know I can convert in plan, but upon leaving my last employer I decided to move the 'cash pension' portion of my former employers match into a traditional IRA so that I could invest the now ~$13k into the S&P rather than the 10 yr T-bills it was invested in, which I had no control over. I'm not very familiar with the pro-rata rule and want to understand, given the situation, what my best course would be here. I have no other traditional retirement accounts, the rest of my retirement savings are in Roth IRAs, pre-tax 401ks, and HSA. I don't expect to contribute very much on an annual basis beyond the pre tax limits for 401k and HSA and the limit for Roth IRA. Maybe given that it would, at max, be a few grand a year it's not worth worrying too much about Roth conversions. I'd still like to know what the process would look like, benefits, tax considerations etc so I can make a better decision on what to do. submitted by /u/74Kilos [link] [comments]

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