Dividend calculator

Multiply the number of shares by the annual dividend per share. 100 shares paying $2.00 a share is $200 a year before tax; at a 15% tax rate $170 reaches your account, about $14.17 a month.

$12,000 a year after tax. At a 4% yield and 15% tax that takes about $352,941 invested; at a 2% yield, twice as much. The “Shares needed for a monthly income” block does this for the company and price you enter.

The annual dividend per share divided by the share price. A $2.00 dividend on a $50 share is a 4.0% yield. Yield rises when the price falls, so a very high yield often means the market expects a dividend cut.

A dividend reinvestment plan: each payout buys more shares instead of being paid in cash, so the next payout is larger. In the example above with 5% dividend growth and a flat share price, 10 years of reinvesting turns 100 shares into 152.0 and the year-10 dividend into $380.73 after tax, against $263.73 without reinvesting.

From the company's own filings with the SEC: the dividends per share it declared in its last four reported quarters and, for the growth rate, how the annual dividend changed over the past fiscal years. If a company does not report a per-share dividend in its filings, the calculator says so and you can enter the number yourself.

Qualified dividends are taxed at long-term capital gains rates — 0%, 15% or 20% depending on taxable income; ordinary (non-qualified) dividends are taxed as regular income. Inside an IRA or 401(k) dividends are not taxed when paid. The calculator uses one flat rate that you can change; it is not tax advice.

We don't have a licensed real-time price feed, and an out-of-date price would make the yield wrong. Enter the current price from your broker — it is only needed for the yield and for reinvestment.

You must buy before the ex-dividend date; shares bought on or after it do not receive the upcoming payment. Companies announce the ex-dividend, record and payment dates with each declaration — check the company's investor relations page, we do not list these dates.