Whether buying the call back early beats holding — and the last day it still does.
The put you sold
Where you are now (optional)
Enter what it costs to buy the put back and how long you've held it, and this compares closing today against holding to expiration.
"Close at 50%" gets repeated about covered calls as often as it does about puts, and it is right for the same reason and wrong for the same reason: holding earns the whole premium over the whole term, closing early earns part of it over part of the term, and which wins depends on the rate.
What changes is the denominator. A cash-secured put ties up cash at the strike. A covered call ties up shares you have already paid for — so the honest capital base is what those shares cost you, not what the market would pay for them today. Using the current price would make every call look better the more the stock ran, which is exactly backwards.
A call on assigned shares
Shares assigned at $50, so $5,000 of capital is committed per contract.
Sell the $52 call for $120, 30 days out. Held to expiry: 29.2% annualized.
Buy it back at $60 on day 10: $60 in 10 days = 43.8%. Closing wins.
Same $60 on day 20: 21.9%. Holding wins.
Closing a call is not the same as closing a put
Buying back a put ends the trade. Buying back a call leaves you holding the shares, still exposed, and needing to decide what to sell next. The freed capital is not really freed — it is still in the stock. That makes the rate argument weaker here than it is for puts, and it is the reason the answer is more often "hold".
If the call has moved against you rather than in your favour, this is not a take-profit question — see the roll calculator instead.
Covered Calls
Renting out shares you already own — and the one strike rule that stops it going wrong.
Educational only
These figures come from the numbers you enter and standard options arithmetic. Nothing here is investment, financial, or tax advice, and a good-looking return says nothing about whether the underlying stock is a good idea.
Cash-Secured Put Calculator
Collateral, return on capital, annualized yield and breakeven for a put you're thinking about selling.
Covered Call Calculator
Premium yield, what you make if the shares get called away, and where your basis actually sits.
LEAPS Calculator
Breakeven, how much capital a long-dated call saves against shares, and what you're paying for time.
Poor Man's Covered Call Calculator
Net debit, strike width, and whether the setup clears the one rule that decides if a PMCC can work.
CSP Take-Profit Calculator
Whether closing at 25/50/75% actually beats holding — and the last day it still does.
Covered Call Roll Calculator
What a roll really nets after the buyback — and whether the new strike still clears your basis.
Cash-Secured Put Roll Calculator
What rolling a put down and out nets — and what assignment would actually cost you.