Dividend Calculator

A dividend calculator shows how much more an investment grows when its dividends are reinvested (a DRIP) instead of taken as cash.

How much could my dividends add?

Starting investment

Monthly addition

Dividend yield

Years

More options

Payout frequency

Dividend growth

Share price growth

Balance after 30 years with dividends reinvested

$54,087

$4,810 more than taking the dividends as cash ($49,277).

Dividends reinvested
Taking the cash

$1,000 to start and $50 a month at a dividend yield of 1.1%, paid quarterly, year by year: the money put in, the balance with dividends reinvested, and the cash path, which is its shares plus the dividends it kept. The rates are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.
Year	Total put in	Dividends reinvested	Taking the cash
0	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
1	$1,600	$1,676	$1,676
2	$2,200	$2,392	$2,390
3	$2,800	$3,151	$3,146
4	$3,400	$3,955	$3,946
5	$4,000	$4,807	$4,790
6	$4,600	$5,710	$5,682
7	$5,200	$6,667	$6,623
8	$5,800	$7,680	$7,616
9	$6,400	$8,755	$8,664
10	$7,000	$9,893	$9,770
11	$7,600	$11,099	$10,935
12	$8,200	$12,377	$12,163
13	$8,800	$13,732	$13,456
14	$9,400	$15,167	$14,819
15	$10,000	$16,687	$16,254
16	$10,600	$18,299	$17,765
17	$11,200	$20,006	$19,355
18	$11,800	$21,815	$21,029
19	$12,400	$23,732	$22,790
20	$13,000	$25,764	$24,642
21	$13,600	$27,916	$26,590
22	$14,200	$30,197	$28,639
23	$14,800	$32,614	$30,793
24	$15,400	$35,175	$33,057
25	$16,000	$37,889	$35,437
26	$16,600	$40,764	$37,939
27	$17,200	$43,811	$40,567
28	$17,800	$47,040	$43,328
29	$18,400	$50,462	$46,230
30	$19,000	$54,087	$49,277

Final-year dividend income$575
Total dividends$6,667
Extra from reinvesting$4,810

How Does a Dividend Calculator Work?

A dividend calculator follows a number of shares one month at a time. The shares you hold earn a slice of the yearly dividend each month, the dividend is paid on the schedule you pick, and then it either buys more shares (reinvested) or stays as cash (taking the cash). Both paths get the same monthly additions, so the only difference is what happens to the dividends.

Shares bought = dividend paid ÷ share price

Reinvested value = shares × share price. Cash path value = shares × share price + dividends kept.

Choose a starting investment, a monthly addition, a dividend yield and a number of years. Under More options, set the payout frequency, the dividend growth and the share price growth.
We start the share price at 100. Only the rates matter, so any starting price gives the same answer. The price grows at the share price growth rate each year. The yearly dividend per share starts at the price times the yield and grows at the dividend growth rate.
Each month, every share held at the start of the month earns one twelfth of that year's dividend per share. A share bought this month earns nothing until next month.
The earned dividends are paid out on the payout schedule: quarterly every 3 months, monthly every month and yearly once a year.
When a dividend is paid, the reinvested path uses it to buy shares at that month's price. The cash path keeps it, and the cash earns no interest.
Each monthly addition buys shares at that month's price, at the end of the month, on both paths.
Value at the end is shares times the final price. The cash path adds the dividends it kept. Total put in is the starting investment plus 12 monthly additions for every year.
The table shows the same plan every 5 years, and always the last year.

$1,000 to start and $50 a month at a dividend yield of 1.1%, paid quarterly, shown every 5 years. The cash path is its shares plus the dividends it kept. The rates are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.
Year	Total put in	Dividends reinvested	Taking the cash	Difference
0	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$0
5	$4,000	$4,807	$4,790	$17
10	$7,000	$9,893	$9,770	$123
15	$10,000	$16,687	$16,254	$433
20	$13,000	$25,764	$24,642	$1,122
25	$16,000	$37,889	$35,437	$2,452
30	$19,000	$54,087	$49,277	$4,810

The Math Behind Reinvesting Dividends

What does reinvesting dividends add?

Reinvesting dividends adds shares, and the extra shares pay dividends of their own. For the default plan, Rapunzl's calculator ends at $54,087 with dividends reinvested and $49,277 taking the cash, which is $4,810 more. The reinvested path finishes with 24% more shares. The two paths get the same $19,000 put in and the same monthly additions, so the whole gap comes from what happens to the dividends. The 1.1% yield and 4.81% growth are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.

Why does the gap between reinvesting and cash keep growing?

The gap between reinvesting and taking the cash keeps growing because each year's dividends are paid on a bigger pile of shares. For the default plan, both lines in Rapunzl's chart start at $1,000. The reinvested line is ahead by $123 after 10 years, $1,122 after 20 years and $4,810 after 30 years. In the final year the reinvested shares are paid $575 in dividends and the cash path's shares are paid $465, so the gap widens faster as the years go on. The rates are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.

Does it matter how often dividends are paid?

How often dividends are paid changes the result only a little. For the default plan, Rapunzl's calculator ends at $53,835 with yearly payouts, $54,087 with quarterly and $54,145 with monthly. That is a spread of $310, or 0.6% of the balance. With these rates a dividend that arrives sooner buys shares sooner, which is why the order runs that way, but the schedule does not change how much is paid in a year. Taking the cash ends at $49,277 on every schedule. The rates are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.

Using the Calculator in Class

Project it and ask students to guess whether reinvesting or taking the cash ends higher for the default plan, and by how much, before you press go. Then change only the dividend yield, from 1.1% to 3%, and ask what happens to the gap, which goes from $4,810 to $20,914. Close with the payout frequency and ask whether the order of the three results surprises anyone. The modules below cover stocks and dividends, and the posts explain them in plain terms.

Questions about the dividend calculator

At an assumed 1.1% dividend yield, with dividends and the share price both growing 4.81% a year and paid quarterly, $1,000 to start and $50 a month grows to about $54,087 after 30 years with dividends reinvested. Taking the dividends as cash ends at about $49,277, so reinvesting adds $4,810. Of the balance, $19,000 is money put in. The yield matters a lot: at 3% the same plan ends at about $80,128 reinvested and $59,215 taking the cash. These are assumed rates, and history is not a forecast.

A DRIP, or dividend reinvestment plan, uses each dividend to buy more shares instead of paying it out as cash. Those new shares pay dividends the next time, so the holding grows on its own. This calculator lets reinvesting buy fractions of a share and charges no fees. In the default plan the reinvested path finishes with 24% more shares than the path that takes the cash, which is why it ends $4,810 higher. That result rests on assumed rates, and history is not a forecast. Brokers and funds set their own rules for reinvesting, so the real terms depend on the account.

Rapunzl's calculator starts from two figures in Robert Shiller's S&P 500 data: a dividend yield of 1.1% for June 2026 and long-run dividend growth of 4.81% a year for 1928 to 2025. The yield is the S&P Composite's yearly dividend divided by its price, so it describes an index, not one stock or fund. Shorter windows grew faster: 6.34% a year from 1976 to 2025 and 6.75% a year from 2005 to 2025. You can type any yield from 0 to 20 and any dividend growth from 0 to 20. History is not a forecast.

Only a little. For the default plan, yearly payouts end at about $53,835, quarterly at $54,087 and monthly at $54,145, a spread of $310. With these rates a dividend that arrives sooner buys shares sooner, so the balance runs slightly higher. The schedule does not change how much is paid in a year, and the cash path ends at $49,277 on every schedule. The rates are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.

No. The balance is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, not a prediction. It assumes the same rates every year and leaves out taxes and fees. It also assumes fractions of a share can be bought, and that dividends taken as cash earn no interest. The share price grows at the share price growth rate, which starts equal to dividend growth so the yield stays at 1.1%. Real dividends and prices rise and fall, and history is not a forecast.

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Sources. Investor.gov (SEC): Direct Investment Plans: A dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) lets cash dividends buy more shares automatically. Robert J. Shiller, U.S. Stock Markets 1871-Present and CAPE Ratio (ie_data.xls, sheet Data, columns P and D); computed here as D / P: as of June 2026 (computed 2026-10-17). Robert J. Shiller, U.S. Stock Markets 1871-Present and CAPE Ratio (ie_data.xls, sheet Data, column D); growth rates computed here: as of calendar years 1928 to 2025 (computed 2026-10-17). Figures last checked October 12 2026.

Results assume no taxes or fees, and shares can be bought in fractions. The share price and the dividend per share start from a price of 100 and grow at the rates you set, and when price growth equals dividend growth the yield stays constant. Dividends accrue monthly on the shares held and are paid on the schedule you pick, and dividends taken as cash earn no interest. The default yield (June 2026) and dividend growth (1928 to 2025) come from Robert Shiller's S&P 500 data and describe an index, not a single stock or fund. The rates are assumptions, and history is not a forecast.

How much could my dividends add?

Your result

How Does a Dividend Calculator Work?

The Math Behind Reinvesting Dividends

What does reinvesting dividends add?

Why does the gap between reinvesting and cash keep growing?

Does it matter how often dividends are paid?

Using the Calculator in Class

Questions about the dividend calculator

How much will $1,000 plus $50 a month be worth in 30 years with dividends reinvested?

What is a DRIP?

Where do the default dividend yield and growth come from?

Does the payout frequency change the answer?

Is the result a prediction, and does it include taxes or fees?

Want your teen's school to teach this?

Bring This And Much More To Your Child

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