Level III Spread Approval Question

Hi, I've been paper trading bullish/bearish butterfly spreads on the QQQ and SPY for the past year. I would like to open up a real margin account with Level III approval for spread trading.

The broker asks "how many years have you been trading options?"

I have no real life experience trading options, only paper trading.

How should I answer this question?

Thanks

 

Make up a number. It's literally meaningless to the broker.
That's something they do...just in case a dumbfduck blows up his account...and tries to sue the broker for his losses.

When I first opened up my trading account for options....I listed 5 years of experience, even though I had more like just one year or two max.

 

The question didn't specify live or demo. You've been trading 1 year.

 

Tell the unvarnished truth. Misrepresentation in any of your suitability filings is the first document you are going to see in an arbitration complaint.

 

This.

And if you have never traded options you should proceed with extreme caution. It's more complex than just the math.