BASIC · EXPIRATION PAYOFF

Cash-Secured Put Calculator

See the payoff of selling a put while reserving cash to buy the shares if assigned.

Your position

Illustrative starting values · USD

Use one stock or ETF and the same expiration for every option leg. Premiums are per share.

Stock quantities are shares. Option quantities are contracts. Enter the total fees for the entire position once.

How to use the cash-secured put calculator

Sell a put. Gross cash reserved for assignment is strike × contract multiplier × contracts. This calculator shows the option payoff; it does not add cash as a stock position or include interest on the reserve.

Understanding the payoff

Maximum profit is the premium received. Breakeven = strike − premium. Maximum loss = (strike − premium) × shares represented, if the stock falls to zero.

These formulas describe the standard strategy before fees. The results above include the total fees entered and are calculated from your actual legs.

Worked example

Sell one $100 put for $3 per share and reserve $10,000 for assignment. The maximum profit is $300, breakeven is $97, and maximum loss is $9,700, before fees.

Read the strategy guide →

Assumptions and limits

This is an expiration payoff estimate, not a live option quote or a prediction. It assumes all option legs expire together on one stock or ETF, the stock price cannot be negative, and options settle at intrinsic value. The default multiplier is 100 shares per contract; adjust it for the contract being modeled. Early assignment, exercise decisions, dividends, interest, taxes, and slippage can change realized results. Cash requirements and broker margin are separate from maximum loss. Different expirations, futures options, and adjusted contracts with non-cash deliverables are not supported.

Method: add each leg’s intrinsic value at expiration, subtract its entry cost with the correct buy/sell sign, and subtract total fees. See Cboe’s worked spread example on Fidelity for a reference calculation.