How to use the dividend calculator
- Enter the amount invested and the dividend yield. The yield is the yearly dividend divided by the share price.
- Choose how often it is paid and your tax on dividends.
- Add growth: how fast the dividend and the share price rise each year, and any amount you add every month.
- Reinvest or not. With reinvestment (DRIP) each payment buys more shares, which pay their own dividends.
How it is calculated
The calculator follows your shares month by month: the price grows a little each month, monthly additions buy new shares, and on each payment date you receive shares × dividend per share ÷ payments per year, minus tax. The dividend per share rises once a year by the growth rate.
Example
10,000 at a 4 % yield pays 400 a year before tax, or 340 after 15 % tax: 85 a quarter. Adding 200 a month for 20 years, with dividends growing 5 % a year and reinvested, the yearly income grows to about 6,800 after tax, and the portfolio to about 148,000. Most of that growth comes from the new money and the reinvested payments.
More: dividend yield explained.
Frequently asked questions
What is yield on cost?
Your current yearly dividend divided by what you paid in. As dividends grow, yield on cost rises even if the share's yield today stays the same.
Should I reinvest dividends?
While you are building wealth, reinvesting speeds up compounding. When you need income, you take the payments as cash instead.
Sources: U.S. SEC Investor.gov, "Dividend"; tax rates on dividends vary by country and account type. Illustrations only, not advice.
Guides
More free investing calculators
Last reviewed: 2026-11-08. Results are estimates based on the returns you enter, not advice. See our disclaimer.