AnimalMother

Let me just take a minute to clear some things up. First, never suggested that you should acquire the min balance and then just go nuts. All I said was that in order to trade naked options and/or trade on margin, your brokerage will probably require a minimum balance, for my situation, that min balance was 25k. Second, I totally agree. People need to be careful and really understand what they are doing with their money. I highly recommend that people take a vested interest in economics, portfolio management, etc. after all, it's your hard earned money, you should want to know the details of where it goes/what it does. This is why, instead of recommending random ticker symbols circa 2000, I recommended an investment advisory/education approach (reference the original post). Most people who have car problems take their car to a professional and pay money for them to fix it. Few people seem to see the same value in learning how to manage their money. I finally did and highly recommend the same approach for others. Find one that works for you and realize that yes, it probably is worth the money. I merely suggested the one I use as a place to start, despite its incredibly radical slant. As for the specific investment strategy we are discussing, I said it involves selling naked puts, but there's more to it than that. I was hoping people would have a little curiosity to investigate it on their own, after all, there is no such thing as teaching. It has worked very well for me, reduces my overall portfolio risk, and generates a decent level of return on my free capital. Finally, please understand that I'm not advocating the lottery approach to investing at all. Furthermore, I really do care that the folks I work with (even Internet colleagues) take a serious interest in their finances. I'm tired of seeing senior airmen driving around in brand new BMWs and then ending up broke. Financial education is incredibly important but seems to be generally ignored in our society. I was/am attempting to provide a little motivation for people to go out and seek that education. As for options themselves, remember that the preponderance of options contracts expire worthless, would you rather be the guy shelling out the cash for the premium or the guy receiving it? There's a reason most brokerage houses don't readily offer the ability to make these types of trades to the general public, and it's not because they're worried about you losing your money. At any rate, most people probably should, and will, stay away from this stuff, but my basic premise is the same: find some professional investment advice and follow it, and don't be afraid to pay a few bucks for it. As for yourself, it sounds like you know what you're talking about, let me know if you want more details.

Did you actually read the entire stragety to come to that conclusion or are you just blindly throwing spears? It actually works very well, if not better, in a bear market.

A dude in my last unit got a DUI in 2010. He got RIF'd the next year, picked up full time by the local reserve unit, upgraded to IP/EP, and promoted to major. Then he x-flowed to another airframe and got the AF to pay for his type and ATP. I'd say that's a pretty darn successful post-DUI career. I guess if you're trying to make O-6 then yes, a DUI might make that goal somewhat more difficult to obtain. It all depends on your criteria I suppose...

If I believed your solicitation to be genuine, I'd consider expending some more effort. But, I'll offer a few of my recents insights: I'm always surprised at how little faith we tend to have in our political "leaders," but how much faith we seem to put in their decisions (i.e. foreign policy), especially along party lines. Our Air Force "leaders" can't even manage the force structure, why would anyone think that their civilian superiors can successfully execute, well, anything really? JQP was recently quoted in one thread here, something along the lines of "why do they [senior leaders] do this? Because they can." Positions of power and authority are unconscionably corrupting, no one is completely immune-no one. Furthermore, I have found that those individuals who most actively seek such positions, are generally the least capable of faithfully executing the authority of their position. The results, more often than not, are disastrous. I finally decided that many of the foundational verisimilitudes on which I was raised were worth a second, more objective look. I started reading more, watching TV less (or not at all), and ignoring the meaningless political smoke and mirrors that seem to consume our country's citizens. The subsequent clairvoyance has been, well, just that. One of my favorite "proverbs," courtesy of Porter S. "There is no such thing as teaching, only learning." Only you can actually decide when you're ready to start learning.

We have?! Guess I must not have been paying attention. In all seriousness though, I too was inculcated with the notion of America-World Protector throughout my government-sponsored education, but I'm slowly starting to realize that there's a lot more to it once you scratch the surface. History it seems, is not always what it seems...

You mean how the CC is a "nav?" Yea, that's done wonders for the command over the last few years...

Who the hell said flying was hard? Flying is the easy part, the hard part is being so damn good looking. Some people...

But if that money was just lying around now, it wouldn't be in the pockets of our major defense contractors and their politician-champions. I shudder to think of where that would have left us... Lumberjack, you're probably just too polite to ask, so here's some uber radical thoughts to get you started (or for the group at large). https://dailyreckoning.com/the-why-of-war/

What is it with AFPC and their obsession with releasing updates on Friday? Can anyone confirm if 2004 year group became eligible?

Porter usually puts 1 or 2 stock recommendations in his monthly newsletter. He's a diehard contrarian and usually does a pretty good job of finding assets with potential in beaten down sectors. His team also has some rock solid options trading strategies which I've started using, took my options trading to a whole new level. His strategy is writing naked puts though, so you'll usually need at least 25k in a margin account that allows you to make such trades. USAA is terrible BTW. His latest recommendation is long NRB and short TSLA, but overall he is very bearish now. I understand the bull run of the last 5 years has been generating significant returns, but there are still good plays out there and still some room to run, but it's probably time to start sprinkling some downside protection around your portfolio. In the end, I used to think that going at it on my own was all I needed. I suffered some gains and some losses but finally figured I might as well give something else a try. It's virtually impossible to accomplish the level of research that Porter's team accomplishes on your own. Overall I think it's worth the money. I'm not a paid advertiser, I'm trying to offer genuine suggestions to guys to help them out with their finances because, believe it or not, I really care about the guys I work with (Military in general) and I would like to see them succeed. It's not a panacea and it comes with no guarantees, but it might help to provide some additional information/options. PM me if you want and I'll be happy to send you a copy of his latest newsletter.

If you're upset because I didn't offer to include you I apologize, but the offer was generic. PM me if you're interested, your bank account might appreciate it one day.

The military industrial complex has become a runaway juggernut. PM me if you're interested in taking a look at any of the geopolitical readings that I subscribe to.

That's what I thought initially too. Then I finally decided to ignore all the stupid ads and give it a try. Then I started making a lot of money. The SIA is the flagship newsletter and it's only about 100$ per year. There's some pretty insightful shit in there.

Hopefully more people will start to realize just how ridiculous US foreign and domestic policy has become. I'm just at a loss for words on this one.

https://stansberryresearch.com I decided to hire professional advice a few years back. Should've done it a lot sooner. Pays for itself many times over every year. I have a few others that I subscribe to if anyone is interested.

I think one lesson we've learned here is that if there's a way AFPC can screw you over, they will find it and execute. Extricate your ballsack from the vice ASAP and don't trust one word that comes out of their mouth. Sure, sticking around past 1 Jan may save you a few bucks, but it very well may cost you a testicle or two. That's not a good deal by my calculations. Someone else please check my math on this.

Furthermore, if you're going to take the time to publish your opinion in a formal/semi-formal manner, at least take the time to proofread it or have someone else proofread it for you. If you suck at writing, get someone to help you. Seriously, if I can't trust you to write grammatically correct sentences, how can I trust you to wear the uniform properly? Something about attention to detail, I dunno.

What I'm taking away from this is that all I have to do to get my commander fired is draw a huge cock and balls in the squadron parking lot.

Damn skippy. The Air Force gets a better deal every year. Good ol' inflation, the hidden tax that undercuts so much of our financial efforts. Funny how we all have been conditioned to accept it as a normal facet of modern economics. Throw another zero or two on there - or five - and I'd consider it...

So you're saying that the VSP eligibility matrix used in the FY 14 round is still relevant to the FY 15 program? When was the latest update published? I'm confused, but just became very interested.

Dogshaming.com...what a great website concept.

seriously. Who the hell would agree to 6 more years of this BS after getting 3 years on the outside?

Isn't that what we said in 2010? Accountability? Is that a thing in the Air Force these days? Interesting...

Pretty sure there isn't a portion of this debacle that they haven't screwed up. They have literally ed up at every step. To be perfectly honest, watching this train wreck of mismanagement, incompetence, and prevarication has been one of the factors that has galvanized my sentiment that it is time to disembark. I'll take that bet, hell, I'll even give you 2:1 odds. FYI I accept only bitcoins or fine scotch.

I thought we were woefully overmanned with 11Ms...