Dividend Calculator

Dividend yield is the annual dividend a stock pays expressed as a percent of its price — a $100 stock paying $4 a year yields 4%. It is the income return on the money you put in today, separate from any change in the share price. A high yield can signal a generous payout or a beaten-down price, so it is worth looking at alongside the company’s ability to keep paying. This calculator takes the yield directly so you can model the income whatever the share price.

Yield on cost is the current dividend measured against what you originally paid, not today’s price. It matters because good dividend payers raise their dividend over time: if you buy at a 4% yield and the company lifts its payout 5% a year, after two decades the dividend on your original cost can exceed 10% — even though new buyers still see roughly 4%. That rising yield on cost is the heart of the dividend-growth strategy, and it is why starting early with a grower beats chasing a high headline yield.

A dividend reinvestment plan automatically uses each dividend to buy more shares instead of paying you cash. Those extra shares pay their own dividends, which buy still more shares — the dividends compound. Over long periods reinvesting is responsible for a large share of total stock-market returns. Turn the reinvestment toggle off to see the income as cash instead; turn it on to watch the position snowball. The trade-off is simple: reinvesting builds wealth faster, taking the cash gives you spendable income now.

No — it deliberately holds the price constant to keep the focus on income. Real share prices move, which changes both your portfolio value and the yield new money would buy at. To model price appreciation use the investment growth or stock return calculators; use this one to understand the dividend stream itself — how much income it throws off, how the payout grows, and what reinvesting adds.

Usually, yes. In a taxable account, qualified dividends are taxed at long-term capital-gains rates and ordinary (non-qualified) dividends at your normal income rate, even when you reinvest them — the reinvested dividend is still taxable income in the year it is paid. The figures here are pre-tax. Inside a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA or 401(k), dividends are not taxed as they are received, which is part of why those accounts are powerful for dividend reinvestment.

They share the same compounding engine but answer different questions. The compound interest calculator is about a generic balance growing at a rate with contributions you make. This one is about a dividend stream: the income a position pays, how that payout grows as the company raises it, the rising yield on your original cost, and what reinvesting versus taking the cash does. Use this when income is the point, not just the ending balance.