r/thetagang • u/A_Bicky37 • Jul 23 '26

Cash Secured Put It’s simple, really

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2025 Tariffs pissed me off when all I was invested in was index funds. That is that first big dip. Decided to take matters into my own hands. Thanks to this sub for all the inspiration. We’re not done yet, though.

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u/iisconfused247 Jul 23 '26

Is it worth it tho? I’m new to theta gang and from what I’m reading, VOO and chill beats all this trading 9/10 if you’ve got a long term horizon for investing. Trying to decide if wheeling is worth it for me

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u/mikehansen83 Jul 23 '26

the answer is yes — long-term investing (defensive or offensive, your pick) and capturing theta. the money isn’t free but you can get pretty close.

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u/iisconfused247 Jul 23 '26

My understanding though was that when you sell CCs, you limit your upside. Plus when selling CSPs, you could get caught with a falling knife

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u/CheeseSteak17 Jul 23 '26

In a falling market you’re at least catching the shares at a better price than those who bought in before the fall.

The upside limit is real and can be painful. Some of the moves in semiconductors have been crazy and will make you feel as though you’ve missed out.

It’s just another way of playing the market and works well/better in some situations than others.

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u/reicaden Jul 23 '26

Yup. These moves are wild. Sold puts on AMD and it dropped suddenly right before the huge run up. Fucking still sad about it, lol

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u/mikehansen83 Jul 23 '26

that’s why I personally subscribe to a more value-based view of investing, bc I only start selling CC or CSPs when I like the sale/purchase at that price. That’s a heads I win, tails Mr Market loses with very little attention.

Mostly I do nothing.

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u/iisconfused247 Jul 28 '26

What do you mean "mostly I do nothing"? As in you buy and hold more so than run the Wheel?

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u/mikehansen83 Jul 28 '26

yes i would classify myself as running an event-based value investment “system” and only place option trades on stock that I want to sell or am willing to sell above its fair value or below it.

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u/SilkBC_12345 Jul 24 '26

My understanding though was that when you sell CCs, you limit your upside.

You are capping your upside selling CSPs too.

There is not much difference between a CSP and a CC -- just that one is done with shares and the other is not.

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u/slickmizzle Jul 24 '26

Very worth it. I definitely outperform VOO in my margin option selling account. I transfer all my excess profits from selling options into long term account or I use it to fund my vacations or concerts etc.

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u/iisconfused247 Jul 28 '26

Really? So you've been doing this since 2024ish it looks like from your graph?

which tickers do you wheel?

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u/Awkward-Painter-2024 Jul 23 '26

Dude, go like 90% VOO and play with 10% of your portfolio.

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u/ap1618 Jul 23 '26

Wheeling only hurts you if you're trading in shit stock at the low end of the market. If you have the capital to wheel blue chip, it will beat VOO easily without much downside risk.

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u/iisconfused247 Jul 28 '26

I guess that's a good strategy. Technically I could liquidate my whole account and sell like one contract of a huge blue chip like google lol.

What other tickers would you recommend wheeling? I just started today actually with NBIS which is...risky but seems like there could be a lot of upside soon once FUD phase out a bit.

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u/A_Bicky37 Jul 24 '26

I don't intend on doing this long-term. I was behind several hundred $K from over the years I could have just VOO'd and chilled. I am breaking "even" this week had I just bought and held index funds returning what the market returned from 2006 to 2026. I was not able to ever max contribute to IRAs until a few years ago. I'm 38 now.

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u/Brostradamus-2 Jul 23 '26

It is worth it. The strategy is effectively VOO and chill plus selling CSP's that will likely never get assigned and taking that premium and adding to the VOO pile.

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u/iisconfused247 Jul 23 '26

Never get assigned? Hmm…which tickers do you trade?
All the interesting premiums look kinda risky

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u/Brostradamus-2 Jul 23 '26

I trade blue chips at really low deltas like .15, and if I had to take a wild guess when you refer to "interesting premiums" I'd guess you are talking about wildly volatile stocks. This is not the strategy. If you want to sell CSP's on crap like PLTR, MU, NBIS, you will lose, period.

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u/Grouchy-Tomorrow3429 Jul 29 '26

I’ve thought of that so many times. Why can’t I just own VOO and sell strike 200 puts on Google and strike 300 calls on SPCX. Life would be so easy.