Dividend Calculator

Project the dividend income and value of a stock or fund, with or without reinvesting dividends (a DRIP), monthly contributions, dividend and price growth, and tax. See how much you would need invested for a target income. Your inputs stay in your browser.

Your investment

Your investment

The dividend

Annual dividends per share ÷ share price.

Paid

Assumptions (optional)

How much the dividend per share rises each year. Dividends can also be cut.

Leave at 0 for a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k).

Shows how much you would need invested today at this yield.

$5,063 a year in dividends after 20 years. See full results

Example: $10,000 plus $200 a month for 20 years at a 3% yield, paid quarterly and reinvested, with 5% dividend growth, 4% price growth and 15% tax on dividends. These are illustrative, not forecasts.

Your dividend projection

Annual dividend income
$5,063
Before tax, going into year 21; about $422 a month
Ending value
$139,359
After 20 years, dividends reinvested
Total dividends
$40,214
$6,032 of it paid in tax
Yield on cost
8.73%
Next year's income ÷ the $58,000 you put in
Gain from reinvesting
$17,787
Compared with taking dividends as cash
Where the ending value comes from
  • Money you put in: $58,000 (41.6%)
  • Reinvested dividends: $34,182 (24.5%)
  • Price growth: $47,177 (33.9%)

Year by year

YearDividendsValue at year endAnnual income rate
1 $347.53$13,151$398
2 $447.26$16,515$505
3 $555.44$20,106$621
4 $672.79$23,942$746
5 $800.06$28,041$882
6 $938.11$32,424$1,030
7 $1,087.86$37,110$1,190
8 $1,250.28$42,125$1,364
9 $1,426.48$47,492$1,553
10 $1,617.63$53,238$1,758
11 $1,825.03$59,393$1,980
12 $2,050.07$65,989$2,221
13 $2,294.28$73,059$2,482
14 $2,559.34$80,640$2,766
15 $2,847.08$88,773$3,074
16 $3,159.47$97,501$3,409
17 $3,498.69$106,870$3,773
18 $3,867.12$116,932$4,167
19 $4,267.34$127,742$4,596
20 $4,702.20$139,359$5,063

An illustration with constant rates, not a forecast. Real dividends and prices change, dividends can be cut, and past growth does not guarantee future results.

Dividend yield and dividend income

Dividend yield is the annual dividend per share divided by the share price (Investor.gov: dividend yield). A $50 share paying $2 a year yields 4%. Your annual income is roughly the amount invested × the yield: $10,000 at 4% pays about $400 a year, or $100 a quarter.

Annual dividend income = shares × annual dividend per share = amount invested × dividend yield

To earn $12,000 a year at a 4% yield before tax, you would need about $300,000 invested (income ÷ yield). Enter a target income above to work this out at your own yield.

Reinvesting dividends (DRIP)

A dividend reinvestment plan uses each dividend to buy more shares, which then earn dividends of their own (Investor.gov: dividend reinvestment plans). With no price or dividend growth, $10,000 at 4% paid quarterly grows to $14,889 in 10 years if reinvested, against $14,000 (the same $10,000 plus $4,000 in cash) if the dividends are taken. Reinvesting pays about $596 a year by the end, against $400.

Dividend growth and yield on cost

Many companies raise their dividend over time, and others cut it. With dividend growth, the income from the same shares rises each year, so the yield on what you originally paid (yield on cost) climbs above the starting yield. In the example, next year's income is 8.73% of the $58,000 put in, against a starting yield of 3%. Treat any growth rate as an assumption, not a promise.

Taxes on dividends

In a taxable account, dividends are taxable in the year they are paid, even if you reinvest them. Qualified dividends are taxed at the lower capital gains rates, while ordinary dividends are taxed as ordinary income (IRS Topic 404: dividends). Enter the rate you expect on your dividends, or 0 for an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged account. The example's $40,214 of dividends includes $6,032 of tax at 15%.

Assumptions and limits

  • Yield, dividend growth, price growth and tax rate stay constant. In reality all of them change, and dividends can be reduced or suspended.
  • The dividend per share is set once a year and paid in equal installments; price growth is compounded monthly.
  • Reinvested dividends buy shares at that month's price, with no fees and fractional shares allowed. Dividends taken as cash earn no interest.
  • Monthly contributions buy shares at the start of each month. Taxes are taken from each payout at the rate you enter.
  • This is an illustration, not investment advice or a forecast of any particular stock or fund.

Methodology and testing

The projection runs month by month: contributions buy shares, the price grows, and on each payout month the dividend (shares × annual dividend per share ÷ payouts a year), less tax, is reinvested or kept as cash. Automated tests check that reinvested dividends with no growth match compound interest exactly (10,000 × 1.04¹⁰ for annual payouts), that cash payouts, dividend growth and price growth each match their closed-form results, and a combined case against an independent month-by-month simulation. How we build and test calculators.

Sources

  • Glossary: dividend yield, Investor.gov, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Dividend yield is the annual dividend per share divided by the share price.
  • Glossary: dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs), Investor.gov, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A dividend reinvestment plan uses cash dividends to buy additional shares.
  • Topic no. 404, Dividends, Internal Revenue Service. Dividends are taxable; qualified dividends are taxed at capital gain rates and ordinary dividends as ordinary income.
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