Dividend calculator
How much you collect each year from an investment, how that income grows if the company raises the dividend, and the difference between collecting it and reinvesting it. Move the sliders and watch the table.
The starting values are an example and are deliberately invented, with round figures so the arithmetic can be redone by hand. They are not data from any real company.
Year by year
Each year’s income and the running total if you collect; capital and income if you reinvest.
Assumption: the share price rises at the same pace as the dividend, so the dividend yield stays constant. No taxes or fees.
This calculator runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server, no sign-up is needed and nothing is stored.
The formula
Income year t = Investment × dividend yield × (1 + growth)^(t−1) · Reinvesting: Capital(t) = Capital(t−1) × (1 + growth) + Capital(t−1) × yield
How it is calculated
Income in year one is the investment times the dividend yield: €10,000 at 4% is €400. If the company raises the dividend 5% a year, you collect €420 in year two, €441 in year three and €1,011 in year twenty. Over twenty years you have collected €13,226 without touching the shares, more than you invested.
Reinvesting changes the scale. If each dividend buys more shares, the capital grows two ways at once: price appreciation and the new shares. With the same numbers, after twenty years the capital is €56,044 and the annual income €2,057, double what collecting gives. The table walks that path year by year.
Dividend growth matters more than the starting yield
A stock yielding 4% that raises its dividend 5% a year pays €1,011 in year twenty; the same stock with a frozen dividend pays €400 forever and accumulates €8,000 instead of €13,226. That is why a high yield today says little on its own: what builds the income is the company being able to keep raising it, and that depends on earnings and payout, not on the share price.
Dividend yield has the price in the denominator, so it rises when the share falls. A jump from 4% to 9% is almost never an opportunity: it is usually the market anticipating a cut. This calculator assumes the dividend holds or grows; if the company cuts it, the table no longer applies.
What the calculator leaves out
No taxes (dividends are taxed as investment income, usually with withholding at source), no purchase fees when reinvesting, and no ex-dividend date, which decides whether a given purchase collects the next payment. It also assumes the price rises in step with the dividend: if it rises faster, the yield falls and reinvesting buys fewer shares; if slower, the opposite.
Frequently asked questions
How is the annual income from a dividend investment calculated?
Investment times dividend yield. With €10,000 at 4%, €400 a year before tax. If the dividend grows 5% a year, each year you collect 5% more than the previous one: €420 in year two, €1,011 in year twenty.
What happens if I reinvest the dividends?
Each dividend buys more shares, which in turn pay dividends. With €10,000 at 4% and 5% growth, after twenty years the capital reaches €56,044 and the annual income €2,057, against €1,011 when collecting. It is compound interest applied to the dividend.
How much do I need to invest to collect €1,000 a month in dividends?
€12,000 a year divided by the dividend yield: at 4%, €300,000; at 3%, €400,000; at 5%, €240,000. Before tax. With dividend growth and reinvestment you get there with less starting capital, but later: the table shows it year by year.
Is a high dividend better?
Not on its own. The yield rises when the price falls, and a 9% is usually the market anticipating a cut. What matters is that the company earns enough to pay it and raise it: the payout on free cash flow says more than the yield.
Does it account for taxes?
No. All figures are gross. Dividends are taxed as investment income, usually with withholding at source, and foreign dividends can suffer a double withholding. Subtract your effective rate from the income for a net idea.
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See the full definition · The article where it is measured on a real case
Do it on a real company
Celsmar computes this from the accounts companies file with their regulator, and shows which line every figure comes from. Free to start, no card.
A calculation tool for informational purposes. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell, and its result depends entirely on the assumptions you enter.