He replaced a Google salary with weekly option premiums.

At this week's Second Income Academy community call, I did something different and handed the mic to a guest.

Nikhil left a 15.5 years career at Google earlier this year. Two kids under five. Now covering his living expenses from option premiums instead of a regular payslip.

We arrived at this independently, from different portfolios, and landed on almost the same philosophy that I used to build the Second Income Academy curriculum.

Eight things that stuck with me from his sharin:

1. Financially independent ≠ retired. He calls it "job optional." Money stopped being the motivator. Time became the thing he was actually buying. I never quite like the term FI/RE either. Financial independence, yes. But the goal here is for us to them channel our time and energy building something we want. For me, it’s about building up the business now.
2. Your FIRE number isn't a number. It's three variables.Location. Age. Lifestyle. FIRE in Singapore as a foreigner with kids in international school is a different maths problem entirely.
3. His biggest losses were emotional, not analytical.A position kept falling. He averaged down instead of cutting, and rode it to -99.6%. His reason for it: ego. → This is where I am aligned with him - we need to have an exit strategy because nothing good last forever. A great stock may have its big fall too.
4. Never sell options on a stock you'd hate to own. Don't chase the premium. Don't chase the volatility. If you wouldn't hold it through a drawdown, the premium isn't compensation — it's bait. → Same reason we give students a screener. Fundamentals and checklist filters first, premium second. Never the other way round.
5. Ladder your strikes. He didn't want an entire position called away at one price. So he split it across several strikes and let it go in tranches.
6. Set a realistic bar, then respect it. T-bills do 3-4%. The index has done ~12-14%. His target is 18-20% a year — roughly 0.5% a week. → I hold the same line: I won't execute a trade that doesn't clear ~18-20% annualised return. And no more than 20% of the portfolio does this work. The other 80% compounds quietly while the premiums get recycled back into it.
7. The hidden return is knowledge. Selling weekly options forced him to actually understand what he owns. When something drops 5%, he now asks the only question that matters: is this the market, or is this the business?
8. Complexity has to earn its place. On advanced spreads: if capping both ends leaves you with 0.5%, is the juice worth the squeeze?

Know your number. Size your risk. Cut early. Stay honest about the moment your ego takes the wheel.

Keep growing!