Options Selling Foundations
From zero to your first trade
A free, calm, plain-English course on selling options for income — the conservative way. Seven short lessons take you from "what is an option?" to running your first Cash-Secured Put with the risk under control. No jargon, no hype, no login.
Before you start
Who this is for
Anyone comfortable buying and selling shares who is new to options and wants a safe, conservative on-ramp.
Who this is not for
Traders chasing fast, leveraged bets. This course is about steady income and capital protection, not lottery tickets.
After the course you will be able to
- Read an option and explain what it obligates you to do
- Sell a Cash-Secured Put on a stock you would own
- Size it so an assignment is survivable, not scary
Time: ~45–60 minutes. No login.
One thing up front: options are contracts that create income and obligations, not free money. We start with Cash-Secured Puts because they are the easiest to understand and are tied to stocks you would be willing to own.
The 7 lessons
- 1 What Is an Option? Calls, puts, strikes, expirations and premium — the parts of a contract, in plain English.
- 2 Buying vs. Selling Options — Why We Focus on Selling Most beginners buy options and lose. Here is why this site is about selling them instead.
- 3 The Options Bench Approach The house rules that keep beginners safe: cash-secured puts first, and a few hard limits.
- 4 Your First Cash-Secured Put Step by step: pick a stock, pick a strike, set aside the cash, and see what happens at expiration.
- 5 Risk Management for Cash-Secured Puts Position sizing, what actually goes wrong, when NOT to sell, and how much account you really need.
- 6 Getting Assigned, and the Wheel Assignment is the plan, not the failure. How owning the shares turns into the wheel.
- 7 Putting It Together — and What’s Next A simple weekly checklist, then where to go next as you graduate past the basics.
New · deep dive
Go deeper: the Cash-Secured Puts course
Once you have the basics, the dedicated Cash-Secured Puts course takes the whole journey — mechanics, why and when to sell, choosing the strike, sizing risk, rolling, and assignment.
Frequently asked questions
Is selling options safe for beginners?
It can be, if you stick to defined, cash-backed strategies. This course starts with Cash-Secured Puts — where your risk is owning a stock you already wanted, at a price you chose — and explicitly rules out the dangerous beginner trades (Naked Calls, same-day-expiry selling). Options still carry real risk, so we teach conservative sizing throughout.
What is the easiest options strategy to understand?
The Cash-Secured Put. You set aside the cash to buy 100 shares of a stock you would happily own, sell a Put below the current price, and get paid a premium. If the stock stays up you keep the premium; if it falls you buy the shares at your chosen price. Lesson 4 walks through it step by step.
What is a Cash-Secured Put?
A Put you sell while holding enough cash to buy the 100 shares per contract if you are assigned. The cash backing is what makes it "secured" rather than naked. You collect premium for taking on the obligation to buy at the strike.
What happens if I get assigned?
You buy 100 shares per contract at the strike price, using the cash you set aside. Your effective cost is the strike minus the premium you already collected. In this course assignment is treated as a planned outcome, not a failure — it is how the Wheel begins (Lesson 6).
Can beginners trade options?
Yes, with the right approval level from a broker and a conservative approach. Selling Cash-Secured Puts and Covered Calls usually needs only a low approval tier because the risk is covered by cash or shares. Start here, learn the mechanics, and graduate slowly.