Time Value

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What this video covers

  • The core identity: premium equals intrinsic value plus time value, and how to rearrange it to isolate time value
  • Why out-of-the-money (OTM) and at-the-money (ATM) options have intrinsic value of zero, making the entire premium time value
  • How time decay erodes an option buyer's position day by day while the seller (grantor) benefits from that same erosion
  • Why time value is exactly zero at expiration, so premium equals intrinsic value and no leftover premium can be added
  • The melting ice cube analogy as a mental model for who holds time value (the buyer) and who roots for it to disappear (the seller)
  • Why time value is greatest at-the-money (ATM), not deep in-the-money (ITM), and how the exam uses rich premiums to bait you into the wrong answer
  • How to spot deep in-the-money options that are mostly intrinsic value with only a thin sliver of time value remaining

Read the full lesson, free

This video's complete written lesson is free to read in the CertFuel app, no signup wall. The complete Series 3 course also includes adaptive practice questions and spaced-repetition flashcards, free through the end of 2026.

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