Dividend reinvestment calculator

Projects what an investment becomes with dividends reinvested, against what it becomes if you take them as cash. The gap between those two lines is what reinvestment is worth over your time horizon.

Starting balance$Monthly contribution$YearsShare price growth%Starting dividend yield%Dividend growth%Annual raise to the payout itselfContribution increase%Yearly raise to what you addDividend tax%0 for a tax-sheltered account

Share price growth and dividend yield are separate inputs, so this assumes a total return of about 10.0% a year — 7.0% from price plus 3.0% from dividends. If you think of 10% as the all-in figure, set price growth to about 7.0% instead.

With reinvestment

$317.4K

$317,389

Taking dividends as cash

$213.8K

shares plus accumulated cash

Reinvestment advantage

$103.6K

48.5% more than taking the cash

Total dividends received

$79.1K

before any growth they went on to earn

Total contributed

$30.0K

$30,000 start plus $0.00 added

Investment growth

$287.4K

final value less everything you put in

Dividend income, final year

$7.5K

$627 a month

Yield on cost

25.1%

final-year dividends against total contributed

Reinvesting dividendsTaking dividends as cashContributions

Year-by-year figures

Year	Contributed	Dividends	Reinvesting	Taking cash
0	$30,000	$0	$30,000	$30,000
1	$30,000	$942	$33,071	$33,029
2	$30,000	$1,029	$36,447	$36,261
3	$30,000	$1,123	$40,156	$39,709
4	$30,000	$1,225	$44,231	$43,388
5	$30,000	$1,337	$48,705	$47,313
6	$30,000	$1,458	$53,618	$51,502
7	$30,000	$1,590	$59,011	$55,971
8	$30,000	$1,733	$64,930	$60,740
9	$30,000	$1,889	$71,423	$65,829
10	$30,000	$2,059	$78,545	$71,259
11	$30,000	$2,242	$86,356	$77,054
12	$30,000	$2,442	$94,919	$83,238
13	$30,000	$2,659	$104,305	$89,837
14	$30,000	$2,894	$114,591	$96,879
15	$30,000	$3,149	$125,860	$104,394
16	$30,000	$3,426	$138,204	$112,414
17	$30,000	$3,727	$151,721	$120,974
18	$30,000	$4,053	$166,521	$130,109
19	$30,000	$4,406	$182,721	$139,859
20	$30,000	$4,789	$200,449	$150,264
21	$30,000	$5,204	$219,847	$161,370
22	$30,000	$5,653	$241,066	$173,223
23	$30,000	$6,141	$264,273	$185,875
24	$30,000	$6,668	$289,649	$199,378
25	$30,000	$7,239	$317,389	$213,792

How this is calculated

The simulation runs monthly and tracks share count and share price separately, rather than applying one blended return. That matters because the share price and the dividend per share grow at different rates: if dividends grow more slowly than the price, the yield drifts down over time, and reinvestment buys more shares when the price is lower. A single blended rate hides both effects.

Price growth and dividend yield are separate inputs on purpose. Entering 10% price growth alongside a 3% yield assumes roughly 13% total return, which is optimistic. If you think of 10% as the all-in figure, split it — around 7% price growth with a 3% yield.

Yield on cost compares your final-year dividend income against everything you contributed. For a company that raises its dividend steadily, that figure climbs well above the yield you originally bought at, which is the effect long-term dividend investors are usually aiming for.

Growth is assumed smooth and dividends are assumed never to be cut. Neither holds in reality — the company pages show which companies have actually sustained and raised their dividends, and which have cut them.