DRIP Calculator
See what happens when every dividend buys more shares, and how much of your final balance is dividends.
Reviewed by Associate Professor Charles Lo, CPA, PhD · Updated October 14, 2026Free, no signup
Your Investment Details
Illustration only. Each payment period pays balance × annual yield ÷ payments per year, reinvests it, then applies the effective period price change: (1 + annual price change)^(1 ÷ payments) − 1. Contributions enter at year end. Dollars are nominal; tax, fees, inflation, changing dividends and variable prices are excluded. Full method and limits.
Final Portfolio Value
Total Dividends Earned
Total Return
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Initial Investment | |
| Total Contributions | |
| Total Invested Capital | |
| Dividends Reinvested | |
| Price Appreciation Gains | |
| Final Portfolio Value | |
| Total Gain |
Educational reinvestment estimate: assumptions and limits
This illustrates constant dividend yield and price growth, reinvesting each payment before price growth and adding contributions at year end. It does not use live prices or a company’s actual dividend policy.
Results exclude tax, fees, inflation, changing prices, dividend cuts and account-specific rules. Reinvesting taxable dividends does not remove their U.S. reporting requirement; see IRS guidance. Compare hypothetical assumptions; the output is not a forecast or a recommendation to buy or reinvest in a security.
Educational content only. Projections assume constant dividend yield, price appreciation, payment frequency and contribution amounts. They do not account for taxes, dividend cuts, brokerage fees, inflation, currency effects or variable market returns. Use as a planning guide only.
Try it with a real example
- Final Portfolio Value is the market value at the end: your money, plus every reinvested dividend, plus price growth on all of it.
- Dividends Reinvested is the total cash the holding paid out and put straight back in. In the default it is $6,363.94 on a $10,000 start.
- Price Appreciation Gains is whatever growth is left after your money and the dividends. It includes price growth on the extra shares that dividends bought.
Save inputs locally, share a hypothetical scenario or export the result.
Save and Restore require Preferences consent and keep six assumptions locally. A link contains only initial investment, dividend yield, annual contribution, price change, payment frequency and years. Use hypothetical examples publicly; no holdings, documents, account identifiers or guide form fields are included. Keep actual financial details in local storage or a private CSV.
What is a DRIP?
A DRIP, or dividend reinvestment plan, uses every dividend a stock or fund pays you to buy more of the same investment automatically.
Most US brokers offer a DRIP with one setting. When a $100 dividend arrives, instead of landing as cash, it buys $100 of extra shares, often including fractions of a share. Next time, those extra shares pay dividends too. Over years, that loop is what makes reinvesting so powerful.
This calculator runs the loop for you. It pays the dividend each period, reinvests it, grows the whole balance by your price growth rate, and adds any yearly contribution. At the end it splits the result into what you invested, what came from dividends and what came from price gains.
Aiden is 24. He puts $6,000 into a dividend ETF yielding 3.5%, sets it to reinvest, and adds $1,200 at the end of each year. He assumes 6% yearly price growth and quarterly payouts. After 15 years the calculator shows $61,658. He contributed $24,000 in total. Reinvested dividends added $13,991 and price growth added $23,668. His own savings are less than 40% of the final balance.
- Projects a balance with dividends reinvested every period
- Separates dividends from price growth in the final gain
- Shows the effect of adding money once a year
- Compares monthly, quarterly, twice yearly and yearly payers
For anyone deciding whether to switch on dividend reinvestment, or wondering how much of a long term balance comes from dividends. New to a term on this page? The investment glossary defines it in a sentence.
How much will I have if I reinvest my dividends?
With this calculator’s defaults ($10,000, a 4% yield paid quarterly, 5% yearly price growth, 10 years) you end with $24,252, and $6,364 of the $14,252 gain came from reinvested dividends. Left for 30 years, the same $10,000 becomes $142,641. Your own result depends on the yield, price growth and time, so enter your numbers above and press Calculate DRIP Returns.
- Enter
- Start amount, yield, yearly add, price growth, payment frequency, years
- Method
- Each period pays and reinvests the dividend, then grows the price
- Cost
- Free, no signup, no account
- Best for
- Splitting a balance into your cash, dividends and price gains
What do the DRIP results mean?
What the holding could be worth at the end of the period, before tax. It assumes the yield and growth rate stay the same every year.
Your starting amount plus every yearly contribution. Anything above this line is gain. The Total Return percentage is that gain divided by this number.
Two slices of the gain. Dividends Reinvested is cash the investment paid you. Price Appreciation Gains is growth in the share price. Together they equal Total Gain.
Yield is only the cash dividend, not the total return. A fund returning 10% a year with a 1.5% yield gets 1.5% in the yield box and 8.5% in price growth, which turns the default $10,000 into $26,262 over ten years. Type 10% as the yield with 5% growth still set and the result balloons to $43,737.
How does the DRIP calculator work?
The tool splits each year into payment periods: 12 for monthly, 4 for quarterly, 2 for twice a year, 1 for yearly. In each period it pays a dividend equal to the balance times the yearly yield divided by the number of periods, adds it to the balance, then grows the balance by your price growth rate spread evenly across the periods. At the end of each year it adds your contribution.
Because the dividend is always a share of the current balance, reinvested dividends earn dividends too. The result updates as you change any input.
The first quarter of the default
| Dividend paid | $10,000 × 4% ÷ 4 | $100.00 |
| Reinvested balance | $10,000 + $100 | $10,100.00 |
| Quarterly price growth | 1.051 ÷ 4 − 1 | 1.227% |
| Balance after quarter 1 | $10,100 × 1.01227 | $10,223.95 |
| After 40 quarters | repeat each quarter | $24,252.02 |
Quarter 2 pays its dividend on $10,223.95, not $10,000. That small difference, repeated 40 times, is the reinvestment effect.
Is it better to reinvest dividends or take the cash?
$10,000, 4% yield paid quarterly, 5% yearly price growth, no contributions.
| Years | Reinvested (calculator) | Taken as cash: shares plus cash collected | Reinvesting adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $24,252 | $21,413 | $2,839 |
| 20 | $58,816 | $40,005 | $18,811 |
| 30 | $142,641 | $70,288 | $72,353 |
The cash column was worked out separately with the same yield and growth: the shares grow to $16,289, $26,533 and $43,219 (the calculator’s result at a 0% yield), plus dividends kept as cash earning nothing. The gap is small at first and large later.
What does the DRIP calculator leave out?
In a taxable account, reinvested dividends are still taxed in the year they are paid. The tool shows everything before tax. Inside a 401(k) or IRA, that tax is deferred or avoided.
Real dividends get raised, cut or suspended, and prices swing. The tool uses one yield and one growth rate for every year. The return simulator shows how uneven years change outcomes.
There is no separate dividend growth input. If you expect raises, the dividend yield calculator has a dividend growth rate and a reinvest or cash switch.
DRIP Calculator FAQ
Is DRIP a good idea?
For long term investors who don’t need the income now, reinvesting usually grows the balance faster, because each dividend buys shares that pay dividends too. In the table above, reinvesting beats taking cash by $72,353 over 30 years. If you need the cash to live on, or want to rebalance, taking dividends as cash can make more sense.
Do you pay taxes on reinvested dividends?
Yes, in a taxable brokerage account. The IRS treats a reinvested dividend as if you received the cash, so it is taxed that year. Each reinvestment also adds to your cost basis, which lowers the taxable gain when you sell later. In a 401(k) or IRA, no tax is due when dividends are paid.
Does dividend frequency make a difference?
Very little. With the defaults, monthly payments give $24,284 and yearly payments give $24,112 after ten years, a gap of about $172. The yield, the growth rate and the number of years matter much more.
How do I turn on DRIP at my broker?
Most US brokers let you switch on dividend reinvestment for your whole account or for single holdings in the account settings. Many buy fractional shares, so every cent is reinvested. Check whether your broker charges anything, although most do not.
What yield should I enter?
Use the investment’s current dividend yield: yearly dividends per share divided by the share price. A broad US stock index fund often yields between 1% and 2%, while dedicated dividend funds are often higher. The 4% default is an example, not a typical market figure.
Does this DRIP calculator include taxes and fees?
No. Results are before tax, fund fees and inflation. To allow roughly for a fund’s yearly fee, subtract its expense ratio from the price growth rate.
Can I share my result?
Copy link preserves only initial investment, dividend yield, annual contribution, price change, payment frequency and years. Use hypothetical examples publicly; no holdings, documents, account identifiers or guide form fields are included. Save and Restore keep six inputs locally with Preferences consent. CSV contains inputs, method, summary and the investment breakdown; keep it private.
Where the numbers come from.
- Method as coded: each period pays balance × yield ÷ periods per year, reinvests it, then grows the balance by (1 + yearly price growth)1 ÷ periods − 1; yearly contributions are added at each year end.
- The comparison table is a fixed illustration of its stated default assumptions, with dividends held as cash earning no interest. It does not update when you change the calculator inputs.
- Tax treatment of reinvested dividends: IRS Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses.
- Written by Felix La Spina, reviewed by Associate Professor Charles Lo, CPA, PhD. Last updated October 14, 2026. Editorial standards.
- Spotted an error? Tell us.
Compare reinvestment with a dividend-income goal.
Test an income goal in the Dividend Income Planner. Its assumptions remain illustrative and dividends can change.
Sources and reference material
Primary sources and original reference material for the concepts discussed on this page.
- Investor.gov: Ex-dividend dates and dividend entitlement
- Investor.gov: Stocks — ownership, dividends and risks
- IRS Publication 550: Investment income, expenses and basis
References added 14 October 2026.
