Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) Calculator

Simulate dividend reinvestment quarter by quarter. See final shares, portfolio value, and income vs. taking the same dividends as cash.

July 13, 2026

Initial Investment ($)

≈ 200.00 shares at $50.00

Share Price ($)

Dividend Input

= $1.500/share annually (3.00% starting yield), paid quarterly

Dividend Growth Rate (%/yr)

Share Price Growth Rate (%/yr)

Set to 0% to isolate the pure DRIP effect from price appreciation.

Years to Project

Year 20 portfolio value

$57,566

Total shares owned

358.99

Year 20 dividend income

$1,600

Total dividends reinvested

$15,777

With DRIP (reinvested)

$57,566

359.0 shares · $1,600/yr income by Year 20

Cash dividends (no reinvestment)

$43,107

200.0 shares + $11,036 cash received · $908/yr income by Year 20

Reinvesting is worth $14,459 more than taking the dividends as cash over 20 years, because DRIP buys more shares each quarter — and each of those extra shares then earns its own growing dividend.

Year	Shares (DRIP)	Price	Dividend Income (yr)	Portfolio Value (DRIP)
1	205.94	$53.00	$303	$10,915
2	212.05	$56.18	$331	$11,913
3	218.34	$59.55	$361	$13,002
4	224.82	$63.12	$394	$14,192
5	231.50	$66.91	$431	$15,490
6	238.37	$70.93	$470	$16,906
7	245.44	$75.18	$513	$18,453
8	252.73	$79.69	$560	$20,140
9	260.23	$84.47	$611	$21,982
10	267.95	$89.54	$667	$23,993
11	275.90	$94.91	$728	$26,187
12	284.09	$100.61	$794	$28,582
13	292.52	$106.65	$867	$31,197
14	301.21	$113.05	$946	$34,050
15	310.15	$119.83	$1,033	$37,164
16	319.35	$127.02	$1,127	$40,563
17	328.83	$134.64	$1,231	$44,273
18	338.59	$142.72	$1,343	$48,322
19	348.64	$151.28	$1,466	$52,742
20	358.99	$160.36	$1,600	$57,566

Simulates dividend reinvestment quarter by quarter: each period's dividend payment (shares × dividend per share ÷ 4) buys new shares at that period's price, so future dividend payments are based on a growing share count. Dividend growth is applied once per year (companies typically raise payouts annually); price growth compounds quarterly. This is a projection based on constant assumed growth rates — real dividends and share prices fluctuate and are never guaranteed. For a specific popular dividend ETF, see the SCHD Dividend Calculator.

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Reference Values

Last verified: Jul 11, 2026

Category	Range	What It Means	Status
New shares purchased (per period) ★	Dividend payment ÷ share price	Standard DRIP mechanic: each dividend payment received is converted into fractional shares at the share price on that payment date.	★ Best
Total shares (running) ★	Previous shares + new shares purchased	Share count only grows under DRIP — it never resets, which is why the compounding effect accelerates the longer the plan runs.	★ Best
Next dividend payment	Shares held × dividend per share	Because share count grows every period, the next dividend payment is larger even if the dividend per share stays flat — this is the core DRIP compounding loop.	Good
Standard US payment frequency	Quarterly (4x/year)	Most US dividend-paying stocks and ETFs pay quarterly. Some pay monthly (e.g. certain REITs and covered-call funds) or semi-annually (common outside the US).	Good
Dividend growth rate assumption	Applied once per year	Companies typically announce dividend increases annually (often tied to an earnings cycle), so this calculator steps the per-share dividend up once per year rather than every quarter.	Okay
Price growth rate assumption	Compounded quarterly	Share price is modeled as compounding smoothly toward the entered annual growth rate — a simplification, since real share prices move daily and are affected by many more factors than a constant growth rate.	Okay
0% price growth mode	Isolates pure DRIP effect	Setting price growth to 0% removes share-price appreciation from the projection, showing only the compounding effect of reinvesting a growing number of dividend payments.	Good

Source: Standard dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) simulation methodology as used by DRIPCalc, MarketBeat's Dividend Reinvestment Calculator, and HughCalc's DRIP Calculator — period-by-period share accumulation (new shares = dividend payment ÷ share price), not a closed-form shortcut, since DRIP with independent dividend-growth and price-growth rates has no simple algebraic formula.

Worked Examples

20-Year DRIP Projection

Initial Investment: $10,000
Share Price: $50.00
Starting Yield: 3.0% ($1.50/share)
Dividend Growth: 6%/yr
Price Growth: 6%/yr
Years: 20

$57,566 with DRIP vs. $43,107 with cash dividends

200 starting shares grow to 358.99 shares as $15,777 in dividends gets reinvested quarter by quarter. Reinvesting is worth $14,459 more than taking the dividends as cash over 20 years.

10-Year Mid-Size Portfolio

Initial Investment: $5,000
Share Price: $25.00
Starting Yield: 4.0% ($1.00/share)
Dividend Growth: 8%/yr
Price Growth: 5%/yr
Years: 10

$12,707 with DRIP vs. $11,042 with cash dividends

200 starting shares grow to 312.05 shares. A higher dividend growth rate (8%) relative to price growth (5%) accelerates the reinvestment loop even over a shorter horizon.

Isolating the Pure DRIP Effect (0% Price Growth)

Initial Investment: $20,000
Share Price: $40.00
Starting Yield: 4.0% ($1.60/share)
Dividend Growth: 7%/yr
Price Growth: 0%/yr
Years: 15

$54,157 with DRIP vs. $40,103 with cash dividends

500 starting shares grow to 1,353.92 shares with the share price held flat at $40 the entire time — the entire $14,054 advantage over cash dividends comes purely from compounding share count, not price appreciation.

Short 5-Year Horizon

Initial Investment: $2,000
Share Price: $20.00
Starting Yield: 4.0% ($0.80/share)
Dividend Growth: 5%/yr
Price Growth: 5%/yr
Years: 5

$3,104 with DRIP vs. $2,995 with cash dividends

100 starting shares grow to only 121.58 shares. DRIP's advantage ($109) is modest over 5 years because compounding needs time — the same plan run for 20 years (see the first example) shows a much larger gap.

30-Year Retirement Horizon

Initial Investment: $100,000
Share Price: $60.00
Starting Yield: 4.0% ($2.40/share)
Dividend Growth: 6%/yr
Price Growth: 7%/yr
Years: 30

$2,111,439 with DRIP vs. $1,077,458 with cash dividends

1,666.67 starting shares grow to 4,622.89 shares. Over three decades, DRIP nearly doubles the total value versus taking the same dividends as cash — $1,033,981 more, almost entirely from shares purchased with reinvested dividends compounding on themselves.

How to Use This Calculator

1

Enter your initial investment and share price

The calculator converts your dollar amount into a starting share count using the price you enter.
2

Enter your dividend rate

Switch between entering a starting yield (%) or an exact annual dividend per share ($) — both compute the same starting dividend.
3

Set dividend growth and price growth assumptions

These are independent. Set price growth to 0% to isolate the pure DRIP compounding effect from share price appreciation.
4

Choose years to project

Up to 50 years. The simulation runs quarter by quarter internally, matching standard US dividend payment frequency.
5

Compare DRIP vs. cash dividend results

The results show final shares, portfolio value, and dividend income side by side against a scenario where the same dividends were taken as cash instead of reinvested.

What Each Value Means

DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment) (shares purchased per period): Using a cash dividend payment to automatically buy more shares of the same stock or fund at the payment date's market price, instead of receiving the cash. Each new share then earns its own dividend the following period.
Starting Yield (% of share price): The annual dividend per share divided by the current share price, expressed as a percentage. This is the yield you'd earn today — it changes as the share price and dividend per share move over time.
Dividend Growth Rate (% per year): The annual percentage increase in dividend per share, announced by the company or fund roughly once a year. Compounds independently of share price growth.
Price Growth Rate (% per year): The annual percentage change in the share price itself, modeled separately from dividend growth. Setting this to 0% isolates DRIP's compounding effect from price appreciation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan)?

A DRIP automatically uses your cash dividend payments to buy more shares of the same stock or fund instead of depositing the cash into your account. Most brokerages offer DRIP for free on stocks and ETFs — you opt in once and every future dividend is converted into additional (often fractional) shares at the market price on the payment date.

Why does DRIP compound faster than taking dividends as cash?

Because each reinvested dividend buys more shares, and those new shares then earn their own dividend the next quarter — a compounding loop that cash dividends don't get. With cash dividends, your share count (and therefore your next dividend payment) stays exactly the same every period, growing only if the dividend per share itself grows. With DRIP, both the share count AND the dividend per share grow, so the dividend payment compounds from two directions at once. Over 20-30 years this difference becomes very large, as the worked example below shows.

How often are dividends reinvested?

This calculator models quarterly reinvestment, which matches how most US dividend-paying stocks and ETFs actually pay (four payments per year). Some REITs and covered-call funds pay monthly, and some international stocks pay semi-annually or annually — the underlying reinvestment math is the same, just with more or fewer compounding periods per year.

What's the difference between dividend growth rate and price growth rate?

Dividend growth rate is how fast the company raises its per-share payout each year (announced separately from the stock price). Price growth rate is how fast the share price itself appreciates. They're independent — a company can raise its dividend while its stock price stays flat, or vice versa. This calculator lets you set them separately, including setting price growth to 0% to see DRIP's effect in isolation from price appreciation.

Does this calculator account for taxes?

No. Dividends are reinvested automatically, but they're still usually taxable income in the year you receive them (unless held in a tax-advantaged account like an IRA or 401(k)) — reinvesting doesn't defer the tax bill outside those accounts. This calculator shows the pre-tax growth of your position; consult a tax professional for how DRIP income affects your specific situation.