As a financial educator, I spend a lot of time exploring the promises education platforms make and how we can actually keep them. My last blog took a look at what it means to help someone take control of their financial future. I’m continuing the series today with another promise that almost every financial wellness platform makes: to be with someone through every step of their financial journey.
It’s another inspiring phrase, but what does this actually look like, and how can financial educators actually put our money where our mouth is?
For a lot of educators, this usually looks like showing someone how to set up an emergency fund, build a budget, open a retirement account, and maybe even dip their toe in the basic types of investments. It’s an easy formula that helps people reach their goals: build a foundation, master the basics, and take it from there.
This foundation is where most financial literacy standards and education stop. But for many people, this isn’t the end of their financial journeys — it’s only Level 1. At Zogo, we’re seeing a trend in learners looking to move beyond these basics and take wealth-building to the next stage.
We see this most starkly with our investors. With seemingly endless investment choices at their fingertips, more and more traders are looking to use advanced products like options and need trustworthy education that can meet them there.
The Need for Advanced Investing Education
The need for Level 2 investing education has skyrocketed in recent years, especially among Gen Z. According to Schwab, almost half of Gen Z is currently investing, and the World Economic Forum found that around 30% of Gen Zers started when they were in college or as young adults. When we say investing, it isn’t just putting money in the S&P 500 — a significant number of Gen Zers are interested in advanced products like options and are looking to take on more risk for quicker, potentially higher, gains.
This isn’t just a trend with Gen Z. Across the board, more investors are looking to level up their investing through advanced products, and one of the popular avenues is options trading. Options trading volumes have exploded in the past several years, and 2025 is shaping up to be the sixth record-breaking year in a row. It’s a trend we can’t ignore: for many investors, indexing is out, speculation is in.
If we promise to help our learners through every step of their financial journeys, we have to meet them in the advanced investing and options trading spaces. While options education is more accessible than ever thanks to AI and the rise of free online education, are these platforms actually equipping traders with the tools they need for success?
At Zogo, we measure the success of any financial education by the action that comes after. The success and adoption of online options education can be measured by looking at whether investors can actually use it to make successful trades.
It didn’t take long to see that options traders are largely not empowered with the tools they need for success — it’s estimated that around 90% of options traders lose money on their trades. When you look into why, you’ll see one reason again and again: traders don’t have the education or strategy they need for successful trades.
Success rates this low should be a red flag for any financial educator. It’s a critical gap where financial education is leaving investors behind. But it’s also an opportunity to reinvent options education.
Our goal was to design a series on options trading that was not only informational but practical for any Level 2 trader. The result was 6 skills that blend options theory with realistic strategies and tips for successful trading.
Here’s what makes our method stand out.
Breaking Down Options Jargon
Almost all options education has the same starting point: defining what an option actually is. It seems simple enough, but options are complex products. Even a bare-bones definition can be filled with jargon that’s hard to unravel.
You can test this for yourself by doing what many newer traders do: ask Google what an option is.
When we tried it, here’s the AI-generated response we got back:
“An option is a financial derivative contract giving the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price (the strike price) by a certain date. Buyers pay a premium to acquire this right, while sellers receive the premium and have the obligation to fulfill the contract if the option is exercised.”
It’s a correct definition, and with enough time we could sort through what it means, but it sends a new trader on a scavenger hunt to break down all the buzzwords first (derivatives, premiums, strike prices, exercise, etc.). On top of this, any time we read complex and jargon-filled definitions — even if we can unravel them — our brains have to work a lot harder to break down each part and put them all together.
This is a key part of cognitive load theory that Zogo’s education is based on: the simpler the language, the smaller the load on our brains, and the better we can learn new concepts.
So how did we shake this up at Zogo? We turned the problem on its head — literally — and worked from the bottom up. Instead of starting with a jargon-filled definition that we later broke down, we started with the most basic definition of an option (“a contract”) and added the building blocks of what goes into that contract one by one (strike price, expiration, premium, right vs. obligation, etc.). Piece-by-piece learning isn’t just for beginners; it’s critical for learning at every level, and it’s where advanced learners often get the short end of the stick.
Linking Options Theory to Action
Most options education covers theory — what calls and puts are, how to calculate profits and losses, the potential risks and rewards of each type of option, etc. — but stops there. While we need this theory for successful trading, experts often forget to include how these theories actually play out in practice.
For example, options education usually covers how to calculate when it’s profitable to exercise an option. It doesn’t always mention that most contracts (even profitable ones) are never actually exercised — they’re resold, which changes the profits and losses equation entirely.
We designed our education to prevent these blunders and losses upfront. We walk investors through what options are in theory and connect it to what’s actually happening in the market.
Making Advanced Investing Fun
Above all, if learning isn’t fun, it isn’t Zogo. We fill our lessons with examples to bring new concepts to life and take every opportunity for active learning through gamified quizzes.
Our new options skills are now live on the app in our “Advanced Investing” category and are free for everyone. As the investing landscape continues to change shape, we’re excited to keep building better learning paths for both beginner and advanced investors, keeping our promise to meet them at every stage of their financial journeys.
Schedule a demo with our Zogo team today to see how our gamified education can drive results for your institution.
