DRIP Future Value Calculator
Project the future value of a share holding when dividends are reinvested, from your initial shares, price, yield, and growth.
Result
- Initial investment$10,000.00 (100 × $100.00)
- Future value (DRIP)$56,044.11
- Price appreciation only$32,071.35
- Dividends as cash (no reinvest)$11,035.68
- Total without DRIP$43,107.03
- DRIP advantage$12,937.08
Step-by-step
- Initial value = 100 shares × $100.00 = $10,000.00.
- With DRIP: $10,000.00 × (1 + 0.06 + 0.03)^20 = $56,044.11.
- Reinvesting dividends adds $12,937.08 over 20 years versus taking them as cash.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your initial number of shares and the share price.
- Enter the dividend yield and expected annual price growth.
- Enter the holding period in years.
- Compare the future value with DRIP against taking dividends as cash.
About this calculator
This calculator projects what a stock or fund holding grows to when you automatically reinvest its dividends (a DRIP). You start with a number of shares at a given price; each year the position appreciates at the price-growth rate and pays a dividend equal to the yield, which buys more shares. Because those new shares then earn their own growth and dividends, the value compounds at roughly the sum of the price-growth and dividend-yield rates — the engine behind long-run equity returns. The tool contrasts that with taking dividends as cash, where only the share price compounds and the dividends accumulate un-grown. Over decades the difference can be large. The model assumes constant rates for clarity and shows results pre-tax; in a taxable account, reinvested dividends are still taxed in the year they are paid.
How it works — the formula
Initial = Shares × Price
With DRIP = Initial × (1 + growth + yield)^years
Without = Initial × (1 + growth)^years + Σ yield·Initial·(1+growth)^iReinvestment compounds growth and yield together; taking cash compounds only price and leaves dividends un-grown.
Worked examples
- Inputs:
- shares=100, price=100, yield=3, growth=6, years=20
- Output:
- with DRIP ≈ $56,044
- Inputs:
- shares=50, price=200, yield=4, growth=5, years=25
- Output:
- with DRIP ≈ $66,000+
- Inputs:
- shares=100, price=50, yield=0, growth=7, years=30
- Output:
- DRIP = price-only ≈ $38,061
Limitations
- Constant yield and growth assumed; reality varies.
- Pre-tax; taxable accounts owe tax on reinvested dividends.
- Annual-compounding approximation.
Illustrative projection, not investment advice.