InvestingWithBrandon

Strike price selection for sold puts.
Most people overthink this completely.
Here is what I do.
I only sell puts on things I already feel are undervalued.
Then I go 10% ish below the current price.
$Q at $750?
I sell the $675 put.
I am already buying something cheap. (assuming this in the example)
Then I am going 10% below that.
The market has to fall 10% from an already undervalued level to put me in assignment range on expiration date. Don't forget! About 2 years time for EPS to grow too. (2 year contract)
& guess what, I always have my ratios in check to be able to take assignment no matter

I retired at 31 doing this.
Step 1. Build your base.
$40k $VOO. $40k $Q. $20k high conviction companies near intrinsic value.
This is your foundation & your collateral.
Step 2. Sell 1+ year portfolio secured puts.
Quality companies only.
Moat.
Pricing power.
Good valuation.
Collect the premium.
Pay zero margin interest.
Step 3. Redeploy every dollar of premium.
More shares.
LEAPS on your highest conviction names.
Never let it sit as cash.
Step 4. Keep ratios in check.
Always know your 7-day liquidity.
A 40% crash should not keep you up at night.
That is it.
No day trading.
No covered calls.
No

Monthly puts vs 2 year puts.
The math that ends the argument.
Market gets cheap.
I sell one 2 year put. Collect $20,000.
You sell monthly puts on the same company.
$1,000 per month average.
To match my $20,000 you need to hit 20 trades in a row.
But here is the problem.
As the market recovers from the dip each monthly put becomes less compelling.
Less undervalued. Less premium. Less margin of safety.
You are forcing trades as the opportunity shrinks.
Meanwhile I deployed $20k at peak fear.
Took that premium. Bought LEAPS.
Bought shares.
Done.
One trade at the right time beats 20 trades at the

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🔴Selling cash secured puts is like betting on RED & BLACK on a roulette table.
(dumb... right?)
Let me explain:
- Selling puts is a bullish strategy.
- But selling puts secured with a bunch of cash doing nothing is bearish.
- Why not use the company you are bullish on to secure the trade, not cash...
- This is called portfolio secured puts.
The most common thing retail traders say to "prove me wrong"
- "Portfolio secured puts are dangerous cause you can't take assignment"
- My reply... They are very wrong, because I have my base portfolio that has value.
- In the rare event I take assignment,

Retail investor: Why not just sell weekly puts & compound faster? 52 trades a year.
Me: How much do you collect on one?
Retail investor: like $150.
Me: & how far below the price is the strike?
Retail investor: maybe 2-3%.
Me: So one normal 5% dip & you’re underwater... with 4 days to recover.
Retail investor: I’d just roll it.
Me: Roll it where? Another week out? You’d be rolling for pennies.
Retail investor: ...ok but most weeks it works.
Me: Most weeks. Then one week it doesn’t & it wipes out 2-3 months of $150s.
Retail investor: so what do you do?
Me: 1-2 years out, strike way below the pri

The ABSOLUTE worst day in ALL history to buy the Nasdaq $Q was March 27, 2000.
$117.75 a share. The very top of the dot com bubble.
By October 2002 it was $20.06. Down 82%.
It took about 15 years just to get back to even... & that's WITH dividends reinvested.
But if you bought that exact day & did nothing, today it's around $740. About 7x your money with dividends.
Now the person who bought in October 2002 at $20... that's about 37x on price alone.
Same fund. The only thing that changed was the price paid.
That's why I don't buy just because something is going up. I want great companies/ETFs t

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Retail investor: If we get another 2022 I'm going to cash. That year broke me... BAD.
Me: Look at that chart. Down over 36%. Now tell me what you did.
Retail investor: Held as long as I could, sold near the bottom, got back in way higher.
Me: So the market took a temporary 36% dip & your reaction made it permanent... You sold when it went on sale...
Retail investor: I know. It still eats at me inside.
Me: Here's my 2022. Same chart. I sold 1+ year portfolio secured puts the whole way down while premiums were the fattest they'd been in years. Collected the cash flow and reinvested in back in to

Walk into a bank with $100k.
Buy a CD, collect your 4%.
Then ask to ALSO use that same $100k as a down payment on a rental property...
They'll laugh you out the building.
"You can't have your money in two places at once."
But that's exactly what I do every single month.
My shares ( $VOO / $Q ) sit there compounding ~11% a year.
Those SAME shares secure the puts I sell for another ~15%.
Same money. Two returns. Never on margin. Ratios always in check.
That's how 10% quietly becomes 25%.
And 25% is the difference between $1M and $61M over time.
Portfolio secured puts will change your life.
This

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POV: You’re bullish on $NVDA at $53/share back in 2023.
You buy weekly calls at $60 strike.
“It’s going to rip.”
Monday: $55
Wednesday: $58. Calls down 70% (theta hits it hard)
Friday: $59. Calls expire worthless.
1 months later the stock is $90.
You were RIGHT. It ripped. You got $0.
Same call 1 year out & you’d be sitting on a big winner right now with the stock up over 141%.
With short duration, being right about the company isn’t enough. You have to be right about the week too...
This is why I ONLY do longer duration contracts... because nobody knows what happens in the short term.

NVDA+0.45%

Every options strategy I've used in the last 10+ years, ranked worst to best.
7. 0DTE & weekly calls. Gambling. You need the direction AND the day.
6. Spreads. You collect $1,000 & spend $900 on the put under it. Bullish & bearish at the same time.
5. The wheel. You eat the drop, then cap the bounce.
4. Covered calls on stocks you're bullish on. Works until the stock rips & your shares get called away.
3. Cash secured puts. Right idea... but your money sits on the bench doing nothing.
2. 1+ year calls when you're ULTRA bullish on a great company below fair value. Time for earnings to grow, & y

PE ratio vs returns
(Current PE = 19)
1 year out = hard to say
10 years out = clear trend
Allocate to win REGARDLESS of what the market does in the short term.
Market up = I appreciation
Market down = I capitalize

POV: you sell weekly puts for "income" doing the wheel strategy
Stock is at $100. You sell 5 of the $97 puts every week.
Week 1: +$300. This is easy.
Week 2: +$280. Why doesn't everyone do this?
Week 3: +$310. Telling your coworkers about it.
Week 4: +$290. Looking up how to quit your job.
Week 5: +$300... then the stock drops 12% on earnings. Assigned 500 shares at $97. Stock's at $88.
Week 6: Selling covered calls at $92 to "get it back." +$150.
Week 7: +$150.
Week 8: +$150.
Week 9: Stock rips to $102. Shares called away at $92.
Final score after 9 weeks:
Premium collected: $1,930
Loss on th

🟢HOW TO INVEST $100,000 IN OCTOBER 2026:
(works on any amount though)
$30k $VOO
$30k $Q
$20k individual companies
$10k bought calls
$10k $SGOV
Sell 1 year puts portfolio secured, not cash secured on companies that meet this criteria:
1. Must be below intrinsic value.
2. Must have a moat.
3. Must have pricing power.
4. Must have a durable competitive advantage.
5. I must be ok to hold for the long run in the event I get assigned shares, I can use the wheel strategy and patiently "get rid" of the shares if I want.
Key Notes:
- Portfolio secured, not cash.
- I keep ratios in check so if I ever g

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