Cash-Secured Put Calculator
Enter a put you are thinking of selling. See the cash it ties up, where you break even, and what it pays if it expires worthless.
Premium collected
$320.00
Yours to keep whatever happens
Collateral
$15,000
Cash to buy 100 shares at the strike
Break-even
$146.80
5.3% below today's price
Return on collateral
2.1%
In 30 days, if the put expires worthless
Annualized return
26.0%
If you could repeat it all year
Most you can lose
$14,680
If the shares went to zero
For learning and planning. It shows the result at expiration and leaves out taxes, margin and early assignment. Not investment advice.
Payoff at Expiration
What your put makes or loses for each price the stock could finish at, next to buying the same 100 shares outright today:
How the Cash-Secured Put Calculator Works
Nothing here is estimated. Every figure comes from the numbers you enter, using six formulas:
| Result | Formula |
|---|---|
| Collateral | Strike × 100 × contracts |
| Premium collected | Premium per share × 100 × contracts − fees |
| Break-even | Strike − premium collected per share |
| Return on collateral | Premium collected ÷ collateral |
| Annualized return | Return on collateral × 365 ÷ days to expiration |
| Most you can lose | Break-even × 100 × contracts (the shares going to zero) |
The same formulas, with a worked example and what happens at expiration, are on the cash-secured put page.
How to Read the Results
Start with the break-even, not the return. It is the price at which this stops being a good trade. Ask whether you would be content owning the stock there. If not, the return does not matter.
Compare puts with the annualized return. A 30-day put paying 2% and a 7-day put paying 0.6% are hard to compare directly. Annualized, they are about 24% and 31%. Treat it as a way to rank choices, not as what you will earn.
A higher return usually means a closer strike. Move the strike toward today's price and both the premium and the chance of assignment go up. The strike price guide explains the trade-off.
Check the collateral against your account. Tying most of your cash to one stock leaves no room if you are assigned and it keeps falling.
After You Sell the Put
The calculator answers the question before the trade. Afterwards the question changes to what actually happened: did it expire, did you buy it back, were you assigned, and what have all your puts made together. That is a job for a journal. OptionsVault tracks each put from your trades, and if one is assigned it carries on into the wheel. If you would rather start with a spreadsheet, there is a free journal template.
Cash-Secured Put Calculator Questions
How do you calculate the return on a cash-secured put?
Divide the premium you collect by the cash you set aside. The cash is the strike price times 100 for each contract. A $3.20 premium on a $150 strike is $320 on $15,000, a 2.1% return if the put expires worthless.
How much money do I need to sell a cash-secured put?
Enough to buy the shares at the strike: the strike price times 100, for each contract. One put with a $150 strike needs $15,000. Brokers generally hold that amount until the put is closed or expires.
What is the break-even on a cash-secured put?
The strike price minus the premium per share. Sell a $150 put for $3.20 and you break even at $146.80. If you are assigned, that is also what each share has effectively cost you.
How is the annualized return worked out, and can I rely on it?
It takes the return for this one put and scales it to a year: return × 365 ÷ days to expiration. It is useful for comparing puts of different lengths. It is not a forecast, because it assumes you could repeat the same trade all year and never be assigned.
What does this calculator leave out?
Taxes, margin, dividends and the chance of being assigned before expiration. It shows the result at expiration only. If the stock falls below your break-even you lose money, and the lower it goes the more you lose.
Does the calculator save or send my numbers?
No. The numbers stay in your browser and are gone when you leave the page. To keep a record of the puts you actually sell, a journal such as OptionsVault tracks them for you.
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