I have a goal to make at least $1,200 per month for the next 3 months of the year in dividend income + selling options.
Every quarter I create a brief income plan/goal laying out plans for the next three months.
Last quarter (Q4 2019) I had a plan to take $1,000/mo from the financial markets, unfortunately, it didn't work as expected.
In total, I made slightly more than $3,000 during the last quarter, but not all months were even so, for example, October was the best income month so far with $3,294.29 taken from the market, then come November and I got hit hard, ended month with negative -$959.06, during the month of December I traded safe and made slightly less than thousand - $927.98.
The past quarter has been like a roller coaster with high ups and low downs.
For the Q1 2020, I have a $1,200/mo goal. It seems quite doable and also is a pretty serious amount of money.
I have a plan to invest about 16K this year into the stock market, if I would manage to take constantly $1,200 a month, that would help me to generate $14,400 (almost enough to cover my investment plans for 2020)
2019 in Review and Financial Goals for 2020
Now, some three months ago I was quite optimistic and already looked that most probably I will set a goal to take at least $1.500/mo starting Q1 2020, most probably I could, but as the previous quarter didn't work like expected + I've changed the way I count income.
From now I count net income and not gross income (this is important in the case with options trading - you can easily open positions and take few hundreds to few thousands in gross income, while you might lose in the future (net income). $1,200 is just the right amount to go for the next quarter.
Here is the plan:
- dividend income (from p2p lending and stocks) ~ $250/mo
- options on cryptocurrencies ~ $150/mo
- puts and calls ~ $300/mo
- Iron Condors ~ $500/mo
Dividend income is quite predictable as I already have stocks and I know the value I can get out. Options on crypto currencies are harder, that's why I have lowered my expectations here - $150/mo is not hard, but I will leave it there. Puts and calls, options traders are very familiar with these terms and know those are bread and butter for income-seeking investors. Currently, my portfolio doesn't make me $300 from puts and calls only (I would be exposed to bad trades if I would go for it) but I have incorporated a wheel strategy that generates me about $150-$200/mo "risking" about $10,000 on these trades. Now the risk is minimal as its not real risk, its buying power - capital tied to trades. For wheel strategy, I use margin and buying power to trade T, ET, FXI
Iron Condors (not a fan of them) - I prefer verticals, either bear calls or bull puts. The riskiest part of my income-generating plan - as I trade cash-settled options on indexes (SPX) and Futures (GC). If in the last quarter I was trading 0DTE SPX then for Q1 2020 I'm looking to trade 45DTE-90DTE on GC. I have more time to adjust. Yes, this is what I have learned in the past months I should adjust better my positions.
There has been a tremendous growth both in earnings and knowledge acquired since I originally announced my million dollar saving plan. My focus has shifted away from the simple set and forgot peer to peer lending to dividend growth investing and options trading.
If successfully reached, I have some plans for the next quarters of 2020 already, they sound like this - $1,400 in Q2, $1,600 in Q3 and $1,800 in Q4. These numbers actually don't sound scary to me, I don't feel like I would be lying to myself when talking these numbers,. If counted all together - the total planned income for 2020 would be around $18,000. Now that is some serious boost to the portfolio. I probably could reach that $100,000 goal by the end of 2021?!
Trade safe!