Options and real estate wedlock - a beginner level trade on a real estate backed asset

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HemorrhagicShock said:
The more I trade the more I realize using hard SLs only reduces my EV. The market evolves so fast now when it comes to best practices for placing SLs and TPs, and so I've found that as long as my trade thesis remains intact I stay in the trade regardless of price action.

Also trading options allows me to "position for zero" meaning that every position I take I am fine with complete and total loss of the initial position.
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I mainly have to be wary using them with high beta stocks with high IV. I don't really have an excuse with SNDK. It was on my radar and the irony is that I was originally trained with Minervini volatility contraction pattern (VCP) style trading and over time gravitated towards mean reversion. Mean reversion is ultimately less profitable long term but I find it psychologically much easier because the win rate is higher even if the moves aren't as pronounced. So, mean reversion entries almost always occur before VCP breakout alerts. So, if my mean reversion strategy gets stopped out and it's something I felt semi convicted about then it's completely my fault when I miss the VCP breakout which in this case happened 1-2 weeks after I got stopped out. Stop losses have definitely caused me to miss a lot of good trades but at the same time they've also gotten me out of some terrible positions where I would have gone on to lose money significantly. Some stocks I've learned my lesson using them and simply don't anymore (NVDA) but probably 90% of my stocks I use stop losses. I tend to agree with Minervini who once said he wouldn't trade stocks at all if stop loss orders didn't exist. They are powerful tools when used right.

The frustrating part is that if I noticed a VCP breakout on a stock I hadn't traded, I would probably take it all things considered. However, if I have a failed mean reversion trade, it subconsciously biases me AGAINST a following VCP breakout because I already failed trading it and don't want to suffer 2 failed trades. It's definitely something I need to work on.
 
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hopeful22213 said:
I know this is dwarfed by some of the more successful posters on this board, but realized today my net worth (excluding primary residence) had crested a million this year. < 5 years out from residency and work in academics.

Nobody else to really tell other than my wife. Always appreciate the insights on this forum and this thread specifically.
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Way to go buddy! What are you celebrating about? Let's get you started on 2 million! What's even more incredible is that you've gotten to that very important point and are not only 5 years out but in academics. (Which usually pays less than private practice.) That's really remarkable and puts you on a very good timeline to reach FIRE at least a decade sooner, probably more.
 
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hopeful22213 said:
I know this is dwarfed by some of the more successful posters on this board, but realized today my net worth (excluding primary residence) had crested a million this year. < 5 years out from residency and work in academics.

Nobody else to really tell other than my wife. Always appreciate the insights on this forum and this thread specifically.
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That's very impressive. Should count your primary residence too. But yeah, no one at work wants to ever talk money. So I just stay quiet to avoid a possible HR complaint.
 

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HemorrhagicShock said:
So far the line "the first million was the hardest" rings true. It all compounds from here, just stick to the plan, continue to add to the stack, let time and compounding do its thing, pick blue chip high quality long duration assets, and focus on strategies to protect wealth.

I've found the biggest risk to my wealth is my own human psychology.
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It seems like I am stuck on the first million. Still at 1.7-1.8M after 2+ years of crossing that 1 million.
 
I have 40k in AAPL within my HSA and want to sell and buy something else. Anyone here has traded within their HSA account?
 
Groove said:
Way to go buddy! What are you celebrating about? Let's get you started on 2 million! What's even more incredible is that you've gotten to that very important point and are not only 5 years out but in academics. (Which usually pays less than private practice.) That's really remarkable and puts you on a very good timeline to reach FIRE at least a decade sooner, probably more.
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It's wild how much things accelerate. I only started tracking finances carefully summer of 2024 but our savings and growth have really exceeded my expectations. Obviously there's no crystal ball, but if the current trajectory holds then the 2nd million should take ~3.5 years. Will have a nice dinner to celebrate and wind down by pouring something old and dark.
 
Splenda88 said:
It seems like I am stuck on the first million. Still at 1.7-1.8M after 2+ years of crossing that 1 million.
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You're damn close to multimillionaire status in 2 years? I'd say that's pretty good. That first million took me about 8 years or so
 
bravotwozero said:
You're damn close to multimillionaire status in 2 years? I'd say that's pretty good. That first million took me about 8 years or so
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Well, net worth has been stuck 1.7-1.8M since October 2025. The market is not helping.
 
Splenda88 said:
Well, net worth has been stuck 1.7-1.8M since October 2025. The market is not helping.
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I think you have outsized expectations.SPY is up about 3% since October 1 which would make for an average annualized return.

This doesn't have to do with you, but Lol I saw a Reddit post claiming the 17% we got in 2025 was "paltry." I love going on there and seeing how peoples investment decisions are captured by their fears and ideologies.. VXUS has one stellar year and everyone declares the US dead. These people are in for a good time when we get another sustained drop a la 2008, 2022.
 
hopeful22213 said:
It's wild how much things accelerate. I only started tracking finances carefully summer of 2024 but our savings and growth have really exceeded my expectations. Obviously there's no crystal ball, but if the current trajectory holds then the 2nd million should take ~3.5 years. Will have a nice dinner to celebrate and wind down by pouring something old and dark.
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Congratulations!

The first one I think is the hardest as well. I crossed about 2 years ago and now am about 1.6.
 
hopeful22213 said:
It's wild how much things accelerate. I only started tracking finances carefully summer of 2024 but our savings and growth have really exceeded my expectations. Obviously there's no crystal ball, but if the current trajectory holds then the 2nd million should take ~3.5 years. Will have a nice dinner to celebrate and wind down by pouring something old and dark.
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Congrats! Things definitely speed up a bit from there.

I like investing. My wife likes buying things. I'm ~8 yrs out (with one year being a small financial hit of fellowship) and at about 1.6 minus liabilities.

And while my liquid assets would certainly be higher if she and I shared a savings mentality, I can't fault her here. She pushed to buy our current home in 2020; the equity in which now adds another 1M to things.
 
hopeful22213 said:
I know this is dwarfed by some of the more successful posters on this board, but realized today my net worth (excluding primary residence) had crested a million this year. < 5 years out from residency and work in academics.

Nobody else to really tell other than my wife. Always appreciate the insights on this forum and this thread specifically.
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It takes the median physician 10-15 years to hit their first million. You’re doing great man.
 
sloh said:
It takes the median physician 10-15 years to hit their first million. You’re doing great man.
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Where does this start come from? I'm not doubting you, just curious.
 
Splenda88 said:
It seems like I am stuck on the first million. Still at 1.7-1.8M after 2+ years of crossing that 1 million.
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Sounds like you're right on track!

Another 5 years will go by in a blink of an eye, and you'll be eyeing that $5M number, and at that point you'll have achieved escape velocity.

All you gotta do is keep stacking and let Father Time do his part.
 
sloh said:
It takes the median physician 10-15 years to hit their first million. You’re doing great man.
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This initiallly didn't pass my sniff test because how could that be true for even the lowest paid physician, but then my System 2 kicks in and I realize that it's not about the level of income at all. Insane statistic to consider.
 
HemorrhagicShock said:
This initiallly didn't pass my sniff test because how could that be true for even the lowest paid physician, but then my System 2 kicks in and I realize that it's not about the level of income at all. Insane statistic to consider.
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Yeah, definitely savings rate (burn rate is too high). Physicians like you are def an outlier.

To have $1M in investments, net worth often has to be much higher (closer to $1.5M–$2M) because a large portion of a doctor's early wealth is usually tied up in home equity. Add on med school debt.

WCI often cites that a "disciplined" physician saving 20% of their gross income should expect to reach a $1M net worth within 7 to 10 years. However, he also notes that the actual median physician does not save 20%; they often save closer to 5–10% in their early years due to "lifestyle creep" (the "Big House, Big Car" phase). This pretty much shifts the median from the 7-year mark out to the 12–15 year mark.
 
I’m 5.5 years out from pain fellowship and doing private practice as a 1099. My liquid net worth is 1.1 million (most of it in retirement plan). Crossed the milly mark last year. Have 700k in home equity.

I thought I was behind especially compared to all you guys but I guess not.

Hope this year is another good year
 
the market is junk rn, very hard to make gains. index near ATH but many good high beta stocks 40% off
 
I got smoked on NVO today, CEO is a sandbagger
 
miamidoc101 said:
the market is junk rn, very hard to make gains. index near ATH but many good high beta stocks 40% off
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No kidding - i have puts on a lot of them.

Orcl, pins, hood, avgo, crm, adbe, ceg, novo, lyft, net, mrvl, Dis, xyz

So many high quality companies profitable reading near their all time lows
 
DCA into good companies and you will be good in the long run. Market may be "junk" or overheated but its a fools errand to try to predict the lows. History has repeatedly showed that predicting in the long run typically loses out.
 
It is becoming a bloodbath. My stock portfolio is probably down >100k in the past 2 wks.
 
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Splenda88 said:
It is becoming a bloodbath. My stock portfolio is probably down >100k in the past 2 wks.
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I’ve actively de-risked positions. Any put within 20-25% of under lying price has been dropped down.

Getting close to historically low price points for my strikes.

Closing winners and not opening more positions and getting ready for worse things ahead.

this is the first time that my portfolio of puts, while leveraged, is so diversified that i know i can hold on through another 30-40% drop.

As long as a put seller stays liquid, and a company doesn’t go bankrupt, a put seller should be able to come out ahead. Time will tell, it’s been interesting.
 
Splenda88 said:
It is becoming a bloodbath. My stock portfolio is probably down >100k in the past 2 wks.
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The only positions left that need to be de risked are nvo, crm, and orcl.

Going to let them ride a little, but i think those strikes are going down too.

I’m just glad i had a very small novo position compared to a very large position 2 months ago that was closed for a profit previously.
 
hilariously, OPTX--the anduril supplier mentioned previously in this thread--apparently didn't get the macro memo. It is up 178% in the last month, accelerating through much of the bull**** of last/this week.

It's such a small stock it's hard to even find news on it, I do not know what is driving this. No news on the site, nothing in small cap reddits...nothing. Just a stock not GAF about macros

1770209198446.png


I'm sure it's driving by something, but dunno what, glad someone mentioned it
 
Let it tank some. I need to buy this month.
 
I don't even know what's driving this. Usually I can guess

Everywhere I look people are like, "WHAT DID THE ORANGE MAN SAY NOW" but I don't even see that as an issue*. Just broad selloff


*this time
 
If PL hits below 20, going to have to empty bank account on it and average up. Market wide sell off is crazy right now
 
For you early concerned people that you don’t have millions—

If you save $150k a year [a high amount, but certainly doable for a single earner making 350k+, especially if you can put away 60-70k pre-tax]

And you get 8% annualized returns [a reasonable if conservative estimation, if you just use some very low cost broad ETF strategy and no thinking]

You have a million dollars in the 6th year, 2 million in the 9th, and 7 million at the 20year mark. At that point your 8% is growing you 560k a year without further input. The first decade isn’t too impressive but it certainly takes off thereafter.

As previously mentioned, the key is savings rate. Yes, you can improve it with higher returns (good luck and Godspeed), but to me this is the baseline to be in a position to easily retake control of your life/schedule after 15 years of work, and certainly to walk away after 20 years if you want. Once you have that compounding nest egg set, you will have much more flexibility to do what you desire with your time. Im not a 100% WCI guy, but I do agree that a high savings / reasonable lifestyle the first decade of your attending hood. Now obviously we can improve on this, talk about tax strategies, dual-income couples, yadda yadda. But a the core, if you can hit a savings goal each year, you’re fine.
 
Brutal day. Buying opportunity. Good news is all of my covered calls are green
 
Janders said:
For you early concerned people that you don’t have millions—

If you save $150k a year [a high amount, but certainly doable for a single earner making 350k+, especially if you can put away 60-70k pre-tax]

And you get 8% annualized returns [a reasonable if conservative estimation, if you just use some very low cost broad ETF strategy and no thinking]

You have a million dollars in the 6th year, 2 million in the 9th, and 7 million at the 20year mark. At that point your 8% is growing you 560k a year without further input. The first decade isn’t too impressive but it certainly takes off thereafter.

As previously mentioned, the key is savings rate. Yes, you can improve it with higher returns (good luck and Godspeed), but to me this is the baseline to be in a position to easily retake control of your life/schedule after 15 years of work, and certainly to walk away after 20 years if you want. Once you have that compounding nest egg set, you will have much more flexibility to do what you desire with your time. Im not a 100% WCI guy, but I do agree that a high savings / reasonable lifestyle the first decade of your attending hood. Now obviously we can improve on this, talk about tax strategies, dual-income couples, yadda yadda. But a the core, if you can hit a savings goal each year, you’re fine.
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Save early and save often is so underrated. It seems like it takes forever to get that first million but things really do start to snowball from there. Doing that will give you financial freedom and having that financial freedom really allows you to approach your job differently.
 
I keep buy calls every day thinking I hit the bottom

then I buy more calls next day

gonna run out of call funds at this rate, would be nice to go up at some point!
 
Time is the biggest factor of wealth. Having a big shovel is great, but nothing beats time. To docs like me that are past their working prime and want to invest in your kids, this is the best time to do it.

Gift them 38K (Couple) per kid at 10 until they are 18, that 304K total contribution with no further contributions will be worth around $30M when they hit 60 assuming a 10% Yearly return.

Even if you just put 38K at age 10 and do not add anything further, they will have $7M at retirement age (65).
 
Savings rate is key. I think last year was the first time I saved 100k and this year I'm on track for 150. My group has a CBP so it's all pre tax.
 
WhatJobDoIPick said:
Savings rate is key. I think last year was the first time I saved 100k and this year I'm on track for 150. My group has a CBP so it's all pre tax.
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Yes, My company started a CBP and it is super high savings vehicle.
 
Yeah no CBP here. One opportunity I wish I’d had.

With a 401 k + 12% “match” you can come close to maxing allowable at now 72k, plus a HSA for another 7k, and a 457B for another 20k, and do a backdoor Roth for a final 7k. It gets you to roughly 100k/ year possible pretax/tax advantaged space. Granted I didn’t have all those options 10yr ago…

It is nice to have a solid hunk of savings in your favorite brokerage for true immediate easy access, but god I love tax advantages 🙂
 
This dip is driving me insane, especially knowing the underlying fundamentals of what I invest in aren't changed at all, just getting jerked around by macro

I've never actually used margin to buy calls but I'm deadly close to doing it. I LOATHE actual gambling but my brain keeps telling me long-dated calls will print

only fear holds me back
 
AlmostAnMD said:
This dip is driving me insane, especially knowing the underlying fundamentals of what I invest in aren't changed at all, just getting jerked around by macro

I've never actually used margin to buy calls but I'm deadly close to doing it. I LOATHE actual gambling but my brain keeps telling me long-dated calls will print

only fear holds me back
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I don’t know man…. Some of these things highly volatile stocks have historically dropped 70-80% in actual bear markets like 2008.

Buying calls with leverage can definitely make you lose a lot more. Granted i use leverage, but to sell puts, with a lot of margin of error. For example, my hood position is officially a leap with strike $27. There shouldn’t be free fall from 150 -> 27 and some degree of support somewhere 🤣

I’m just unhappy with my Bitcoin timing. I think Bitcoin has lost me 40k. Which is fine, I’m just holding
 
I feel for you bitcoin bros.
 
AlmostAnMD said:
This dip is driving me insane, especially knowing the underlying fundamentals of what I invest in aren't changed at all, just getting jerked around by macro

I've never actually used margin to buy calls but I'm deadly close to doing it. I LOATHE actual gambling but my brain keeps telling me long-dated calls will print

only fear holds me back
Click to expand...

Seems like a good way to have a bad time
 
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