New Beginnings

 Back in late 2020 I was in India and casually browsing youtube when  post caught my attention. It talked about earning additional dividends on your equity investments using something called covered calls. I got interested and started digging around. And thus started a new chapter in my life. Options Trading! 

I read up as much as I could watched countless youtube videos and finally got my broker to enable Options Trading for my account. I first trade I did was in 2021 Jan or Feb. And since then, I've covered some distance. 

I am by nature, risk averse. Then what am I doing trading Options?? Options Trading is entirely about risk management. The best can make money on options buying, consistently. The novice lose money on options buying and the mediocre collect premiums powered by Theta Decay If they can manage their risks. Their returns(ROI) are a fraction of what options buyers make. So, where a good options buyer may make 100% returns on his capital every month, a mediocre(good) options seller can make 100% returns in a year. The truly mediocre can aim for 40-50% returns a year. Nothing great to write home about but enough to make it worth your while. Enough to foot your bills and even run your household. In other words a viable retirement passtime.

So, I started writing options. Before I knew it, was was playing with 1-1.5Cr capital and with half assed knowledge and little experience making 5 lacs a month. All while working full time. I was blown away. WoW! I could retire today! I thought. Then the tide turned. And come October, the maths was working backwards. I started losing money. 2 months of reversals and I stopped. I told my wife, I don't know how I'm able to make such money and if I knew I could be a champ. Little did I know that all that was happening to me was beginners luck. And by Oct-21 I was running running out of it. The law of averages was catching up and the heap of money was vanishing into thin air faster than I could imagine. And so after losing a third of what I had made I stopped. Got off the high horse and decided to go back and learn. 

Like I said, I'm risk averse. And because of that I stopped when the losses started mounted. I did a good thing. I also got lucky. I got paid to learn my lesson. 

  

10 Year Journey Ends Here

 Back in 2013 as I turned 40, I was struggling with my career and my personal life. To keep myself going through it all, I promised to myself that I'll keep working for 10 more years and then retire. I set myself a few financial and personal goals and started the clock.

I decided I'll blog this journey and I did so for around 3 years. Then as my previous UAE stint ended, I decided to continue working and stop measuring. Honestly, I worried I'll not be able to meet those goals within stipulated time and there was no way I could retire unless I secured my future. 

Then in 2018 when I got another opty to work in UAE I decided to return but with a lot of trepidation. It offered me to get closer to my goals and maybe meet them within the timelines I had set. 

The plan was to work for 3 years and then reassess. I was hoping the run would be easier this time and I could survive 3 years. The stay has been eventful and rocky but yes, I survived so far. Its 5 years now. I've met the targets I set up and then some. Reassuring. I had to pay a big price though. I have stayed away from my family all this while. 

The Covid disruption hurt everyone, but it offered my a unique opty to work from home in India. I used this as much as I could and that helped me get through 5 years. Its now time. I hope I can have an orderly exit. My daughter starts her college this year. I hope I can see that transition and then exit AbuDhabi by the end of the year. 

I do have a golden visa so I can return if I like. Perhaps not for work but to stay here for some time with my wife. She loves Abudhabi. I'm not so sanguine. 

Anyhow, this is a milestone that must be recorded and that I just did.  

19 Nov

Today is 19-Nov. Fortunately only I remember. Everyone else has got over it. I’m still hurting. Am I?

Hi Abu Dhabi!

I came, I Saw, I Lost, I Left, Got Vindicated, I came back. Two years ago I left this city, bitter and shattered. I was collateral damage in a power struggle at workplace. Right after I left, the personnel responsible for my ouster was let go too. Didn't bring me any comfort for I was dead and out...

I returned to Mumbai, joined a bank and got on with life. Last year October we were visiting Dharamsala and were returning from a visit to Norbulingka when I got a call from Abu Dhabi. They were asking me if I'd consider a position with them. Took me completely by surprise.

My wife was livid. How dare they! I bought some time. We debated. We agonised over it. Finally decided to see if I can return on my terms. After protracted negotiations, they agreed. And so, here I am, back in Abu Dhabi.

Lets see how it goes... 

Elevating Disappointing and Crushing

1-Oct-17, I ran the half marathon on the treadmill in 1:52. Elevating. Best ever when compared to my past performances on the treadmill.
1-Oct-17 broke the running deck of the treadmill. Disappointing. C'mon. I'm 82 Kgs. Running @12 at times should not break the deck. Now my treadmill is ruined.
8-Oct-17. Ran the first outdoor run of the season. Could not complete even 10 kms in Mumbai Oct heat. Took 1:05 min just to run 10Kms. Welcome to the real world. Crushing...

Marginal Tax Rates

When it comes to Congress misrule, one of the things that comes up often is that it kept the marginal tax rates insanely high.
Just to set the context the marginal tax rates in the vanguard of Capitalism the US over the years is captured here

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/09/28/opinion/092817krugman2/092817krugman2-tmagArticle.png

Say What!

Keep Dreaming Boy!

8 years on... fueled by Deep Purple!
I really wasn't planning on it. When I woke up, I thought I'd do a 16K to cover 20+K for the week. I had run just once this week and was keen to round it off with a 16K run. But then I got delayed getting on to the treadmill and decided to cut it off to 12K.

All these years, doing 12K in an hour was just a wish, like wouldn't it be something to cherish, if only I could. Over these years I've done 11.2K in an hour in the best of times. The most I had run at 12K speed was 5K and was proud of it.

Back in 2014 when I went to Abu Dhabi was the first time I could push it to 7K and then to 8K @12K an hour 5min per km.

But over the last six months, its been happenning. I first closed in with a 8K run and then with a 10K and recently I clocked 11.85K in an hour.

Today is special. Its 12K with 1:20 min to spare. I'm proud. I'm satisfied. I'm home...
There is 1 more hill to climb... We'll see about it...

AWS Ins and Outs

I'm not an AWS expert and surely it hurt my billing for more than a year. So, sometime in 2015, my AWS platform became outdated and I was forced to upgrade. It was a pain and I might have taken a few wrong turns. As a result after reconfiguring, my billing went up significantly (25%). I was simple unable to figure out how.

I finally got around to fixing it last month and saved $30 a month. Now, that's what I call a King's ransom ;)