Read on for our detailed performance, why we created the site, and what is in store for the future.
How did we do?
From the first trade idea (Disney short put spread) sent out on January 5th, 2020, members have an incredible run following along with the trade ideas provided.
SPX closed on 1/3/2020 at 3234.85. On November 18th, 2022, SPX closed at 3965.34. That’s an increase of 730.49 or 22.6%. Given this time included a pandemic – a huge plummet, followed by a huge run up, a drastic increase in inflation and a subsequent sell-off, 22.6% is pretty decent!
Option Salary returned (wait for it … ok, you’ve probably already skipped ahead):
68.7%
That’s over three times the return of the market!
The fun part is that this was done with simple weekly trade ideas, requiring very little active time in the markets. As a gainfully employed person, I do this entirely in my free time, trading during Monday and Friday lunch breaks.
Our overall results are located here
The “Why” behind Option Salary
I created Option Salary for a several reasons and while I intend to keep it running for the foreseeable future, changes are coming. Here are some of the reasons I set out on this endeavor. If you’re not all that interested and want to know more about the changes, just scroll down…
To help others
I work full time (and have been for a while) and as I’ve gotten more “experienced” (read older), I spend more time teaching, mentoring, and coaching. I’ve been fortunate to have been successful trading for a long time and I wanted to share with others how they could pick up some extra money trading options, assuming they were willing to work hard to learn. I didn’t anticipate a global pandemic and what it would do to the economy, but now more than ever, folks benefit from a second salary.
To learn
My past web development was strictly in HTML, Way back in the early 2000s. I thought it would be interesting to pick up some skills hosting a membership website, setting up the server, learning about more recent technologies, etc. Essentially building some additional skills such that even if no one ever came to the site, I’d still benefit from the experience.
I also expected to learn from our members (free and paid) from their questions – what do people struggle with, what concepts are tricky and so on. Having to answer numerous questions solidified my own knowledge as often by teaching you develop mastery
To increase discipline
In the past, when life got busy, I would often take a break from trading. Creating this public facing website, with public results, kept me accountable. Every week I had members paying for a new trade idea, which meant every week I would have to deliver. Wanting to provide the best ideas, I developed additional tools, screeners, and processes to make sure I was overdelivering on value.
Creating the site made me more rigorous in my approach and made me a better trader.
To prove it could be done
There are plenty of sites offering “get rich quick” schemes when it comes to trading. I wanted to show that one could beat the market and get rich – slowly – through simple methods.
To get fabulously wealthy selling memberships
Ok, just checking to see if you were paying attention. The membership fees have been tiny and while they covered the costs, they have been dwarfed by the returns I and members have received. Weekly returns often exceeded the cost of annual membership. The other thing the membership fees did, was helped keep me accountable. A free-only site would be too easy to let go dormant, because if I don’t send out a weekly idea “who cares, no one is paying for it”.
What’s next for Option Salary?
I am going to close Option Salary to new paid members before 2023 begins.
I’ve helped numerous others, I’ve learned some skills, I’ve improved as a trader, and I’ve proven that one can create a second (good!) salary trading options.
I have a lot on my plate with family, work, trading, and other hobbies. Running the site does take some time and while I have streamlined a lot of the processes, I am at risk of providing insufficient support to our members, which I cannot allow. For the members that remain or choose to join before the end of they year, I want to make sure they have a solid service moving forward.
How will the service change?
Paying members will still get the same great trade ideas they always have. All trades are currently updated via the website, email, and (for those that asked for it) text. I will continue to send trades via text and email, but website updates will be more sparse.
Free members will still have access to discounts and email commentary. Today free members receive the trade ideas in the weekly update After the trade was placed. Email content moving forward will be more commentary focused, with fewer trade ideas, but more ‘blog’ like content.
In addition, I’m developing more software to assist with my own trading. I may consider rolling out some tools in the future and subscribers (free and paid) will get the first option to preview and access any tools released.
Will Option Salary ever re-open to new paid members?
Maybe. Would be silly of me to completely close that door. When life gets less busy, I may want to dedicate more time to this project.
How do I sign up before memberships close?
If you want to sign up before the end of the year (2022), please visit our Membership Page. I’ve added an annual option for those that want to lock in some savings.
Both paid membership links will be removed in January, leaving only the free option.
What about 1-on-1 mentoring?
I will still do 1-on-1 mentoring sessions, although available timeslots will decrease. Email me to schedule.
What if I have more questions?
Reach out, as always, and I’ll respond as soon as I can.