BPR
Banca Popolare Italiana
stock NASDAQ

i hear what you’re saying, but a lot of people run a BPR framework that keeps the actual margin they can afford to lose below a certain limit—usually a 40‑50% cash reserve or about 5× the net premium value. the idea isn’t to rely on rolling as a safety net; it’s to stay within rule‑based limits and only roll when the delta/gamma risk is still below the cushion. that way you can survive a tail‑event without being forced out or hit by a margin call.

Thank you so much, im quite familiar with the tasty methodology and Julia’s book is indeed a really good recommendation i do have it and your comment hits exactly my point. I do know the theory and most of the practice but i also have this lingering thought in my head that says: if you go with BPR it will obviously be more exposure than the notional and that is a little scary due to the correlation, i know they say its survivable by staying mechanic but one thing is theory and another one is practice and my goal with the post was to check what others in the wild do; you are one of the few that have mentioned this way, which makes sense given the breadth of the market (there is something for every approach) i will take on the offer and send you a DM as im interested to discuss with you more details regarding the overall portfolio

When it comes to overall portfolio risk, people managing options portfolios mostly focus on BPR. Notional only tells you how many shares you'd have to buy if assigned. It shows the scale of your exposure, not the probability of a loss.
For a pure short-volatility portfolio, the best framework I've found so far is the tastylive table for BP usage based on market regime (simplified to VIX levels). Of course there are many ways to do this safely: you can sell premium on part of your portfolio and combine it with stocks, ETFs or T-Bills, as others have mentioned. But for a pure options portfolio, the most important rule is "stay small". If you're new and don't feel confident, build a small options portfolio in a Reg-T account (e.g. $5k) and trade there. Never use 100% of your BP, especially with naked strategies. Start with credit spreads and stay at or below the table's limits early on:
Tastylive BP allocation by VIX:
* VIX below 15: max 25% BP
* 15–20: max 30% BP
* 20–30: max 35% BP
* 30–40: max 40% BP
* 40–50: max 50% BP
Tastylive's research suggests that a portfolio sized this way, even one built entirely from strangles, would have historically survived every major crash, though with deep drawdowns along the way.
I recommend Julia Spina's book (*The Unlucky Investor's Guide to Options Trading*).
As for futures, they're fairly easy to learn but take practice, so start slowly. Thanks to SPAN margin they have much better capital efficiency (which also means more leverage). They're also a great way to diversify your portfolio.
Good luck in the markets, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to share my approach from my own portfolio.

If you are selling naked puts, think of margin required (MR) instead of BP reduction (BPR).
BPR is MR minus the premium received. 
The MR depends on the strike and amount of OTM. The smaller the OTM the larger is the MR.
So if you sell a naked put, the initial MR will increase if your position worsens.
The initial MR is about 10 to 15 % of strike vs 100% for CSP.
So you can sell 6 to 10 naked puts with the same BP for CSP.
I sell only 2 to 3 and have some BP reserves for a potential increase in MR.
If you want to take an assignment, then sell only 2 because you need 50% margin to buy the stocks. You will need all your BP to take the assignment.
If you sell more than 2 then you will need to roll.

Notional vs BPR, practical doubt

i hear what you’re saying, but a lot of people run a BPR framework that keeps the actual margin they can afford to lose below a certain limit—usually a 40‑50% cash reserve or about 5× the net premium value. the idea isn’t to rely on rolling as a safety net; it’s to stay within rule‑based limits and only roll when the delta/gamma risk is still below the cushion. that way you can survive a tail‑event without being forced out or hit by a margin call.

Thank you so much, im quite familiar with the tasty methodology and Julia’s book is indeed a really good recommendation i do have it and your comment hits exactly my point. I do know the theory and most of the practice but i also have this lingering thought in my head that says: if you go with BPR it will obviously be more exposure than the notional and that is a little scary due to the correlation, i know they say its survivable by staying mechanic but one thing is theory and another one is practice and my goal with the post was to check what others in the wild do; you are one of the few that have mentioned this way, which makes sense given the breadth of the market (there is something for every approach) i will take on the offer and send you a DM as im interested to discuss with you more details regarding the overall portfolio

When it comes to overall portfolio risk, people managing options portfolios mostly focus on BPR. Notional only tells you how many shares you'd have to buy if assigned. It shows the scale of your exposure, not the probability of a loss.
For a pure short-volatility portfolio, the best framework I've found so far is the tastylive table for BP usage based on market regime (simplified to VIX levels). Of course there are many ways to do this safely: you can sell premium on part of your portfolio and combine it with stocks, ETFs or T-Bills, as others have mentioned. But for a pure options portfolio, the most important rule is "stay small". If you're new and don't feel confident, build a small options portfolio in a Reg-T account (e.g. $5k) and trade there. Never use 100% of your BP, especially with naked strategies. Start with credit spreads and stay at or below the table's limits early on:
Tastylive BP allocation by VIX:
* VIX below 15: max 25% BP
* 15–20: max 30% BP
* 20–30: max 35% BP
* 30–40: max 40% BP
* 40–50: max 50% BP
Tastylive's research suggests that a portfolio sized this way, even one built entirely from strangles, would have historically survived every major crash, though with deep drawdowns along the way.
I recommend Julia Spina's book (*The Unlucky Investor's Guide to Options Trading*).
As for futures, they're fairly easy to learn but take practice, so start slowly. Thanks to SPAN margin they have much better capital efficiency (which also means more leverage). They're also a great way to diversify your portfolio.
Good luck in the markets, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to share my approach from my own portfolio.

If you are selling naked puts, think of margin required (MR) instead of BP reduction (BPR).
BPR is MR minus the premium received. 
The MR depends on the strike and amount of OTM. The smaller the OTM the larger is the MR.
So if you sell a naked put, the initial MR will increase if your position worsens.
The initial MR is about 10 to 15 % of strike vs 100% for CSP.
So you can sell 6 to 10 naked puts with the same BP for CSP.
I sell only 2 to 3 and have some BP reserves for a potential increase in MR.
If you want to take an assignment, then sell only 2 because you need 50% margin to buy the stocks. You will need all your BP to take the assignment.
If you sell more than 2 then you will need to roll.

Notional vs BPR, practical doubt