How To Stop Losing Money Using Options

If you are like me, you have scoured the internet (particularly r/wallstreetbets) and read stories of traders who have made hundreds, thousands, and even millions of dollars trading options in such a short time period. You then try your hand in the wide world of options trading, make foolish bets, blow up your account, and become cynical about options, or even the stock market as a whole. Sound familiar?

Platforms like Wall Street Bets make it seem like options trading is all about high-risk, high-reward moonshots. Still, I promise you that for every astronomical account increase, hundreds of accounts have mediocre, sub-par, or down-right sh*tty performances. But what if there was a way to use options responsibly—to generate consistent income instead of risking it all on speculative bets?

While many traders buy out-of-the-money options hoping for massive gains, this approach is more like buying lottery tickets than investing. The smarter, more sustainable path is found in strategically selling options to collect premiums, or once you gain some knowledge and experience, a mixture of buying and selling options. This strategy allows you to turn the market's volatility into a steady income source.

There is a reason why insurance companies are filthy rich—They collect the premiums. They’ve mastered the game of probabilities. Every policy they sell is essentially a calculated bet that the event they’re insuring against won’t happen, or won’t happen to the extent that they lose money. They are not guessing; they rely on statistics, time, and risk diversification.

You can emulate these practices in your own journey with options. Instead of buying options and hoping for a big payout, you collect premiums, set boundaries for your risk, and let time decay (Theta) do the work for you. The ‘insurance-like’ model isn’t flashy, but with proper analysis, can be consistently profitable. Why gamble when you can collect? Wouldn’t you rather be the '“house”?

Take charge of your portfolio with option positions that, when implemented strategically, are designed to work for you, not against you. Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly options news, tips, and strategies (we promise to keep it brief and pack it with value). Stay informed and learn how to use options advantageously to generate income and make ‘time decay’ your ally. Join below to get started.