Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) Calculator
See how reinvesting dividends compounds your share balance and value year by year.
Ending portfolio value
$0
| Year | Shares | Share price | Dividends | Shares bought | Value |
|---|
This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded.
How to use this tool
- Enter your starting shares and the current share price.
- Add the annual dividend yield, plus how fast you expect the dividend and the share price to grow each year.
- Set the number of years and click Calculate.
- Read the ending value, the share balance accumulation in the table, and how much of the growth came from reinvested dividends.
This is an educational estimate, not investment advice. Real dividends, prices, and growth rates change over time and are never guaranteed.
How dividend reinvestment works
A DRIP, short for dividend reinvestment plan, takes each dividend payment and buys more shares instead of paying cash. Those new shares then pay their own dividends the next year, which buy still more shares. That feedback loop is what makes compounding rolling dividends so powerful over a long dividend growth trajectory.
This calculator reinvests dividends once per year at the year-end price and lets the dividend and price drift upward at the rates you set. Fractional shares are allowed, which is how most modern DRIP programs actually buy.
A real example
Suppose you own 100 shares at 50 dollars each, a starting yield of 4 percent, dividends growing 5 percent a year, the share price rising 3 percent a year, over 20 years. In year one your 100 shares pay about 200 dollars in dividends (100 x 50 x 4 percent), which buys roughly 4 more shares. Each following year you hold more shares paying larger dividends at a higher price, so the share count and value climb faster the longer you stay invested. After 20 years the reinvested dividends account for a large slice of the ending value, far more than the dividends would have been if taken as cash.
Common questions
What is a DRIP?
A dividend reinvestment plan automatically uses your dividend payments to buy more shares of the same stock or fund, often with no commission, instead of paying you cash.
Why does reinvesting beat taking cash dividends?
Reinvested dividends buy shares that pay their own future dividends. That compounding can meaningfully raise the ending share count and value, especially over long holding periods.
Does this calculator include taxes?
No. Dividends are often taxable even when reinvested in a regular brokerage account. This tool shows a pre-tax estimate, so treat the result as a planning figure, not a tax statement.
Are fractional shares realistic?
Yes. Most DRIP programs and many brokers buy fractional shares with dividend proceeds, so the calculator allows fractions to keep the projection accurate.
Why is the dividend growth trajectory not guaranteed?
Companies can raise, freeze, or cut dividends, and share prices move with the market. The rates you enter are assumptions, so try a few scenarios to see a realistic range.