Dividend Calculator: DRIP & Inflation
DividendPathCalc: a dividend income calculator.
Grow your income, plan the path.
Free calculator to model dividend growth, DRIP reinvestment, contribution frequency, taxes, and inflation. See the path to your monthly income goal.
Free to use No account required Export your analysis
Clarity before the click.
Visible assumptions.
Inspectable calculations.
Nothing hidden behind a login.
Know what you are looking at. User-editable example assumptions. No live market quotes. Data details
Calculator lensSwitch between income at the horizon and the remaining goal gap.
Year 20 / net income run rate$3,203.99 / month
$38,447.86 annual net income run rate · average, not a payment calendar
Year 20 / monthly goal gap$0.00 / month
Your modeled income meets the target at this horizon · $3,203.99 modeled / $2,000 target
Your income against the target
Net monthly income run rate at each year end. The target is nominal and does not rise with inflation.
The path to your income goal
Separate the money you add from growth and future purchasing power.
Where distributions went
Cumulative over the modeled horizon.
A lower-growth stress case
Dividend growth and price growth each reduced by 2 percentage points.
$655,981
Ending nominal portfolio
$2,407 / monthNet income run rate. This is another scenario, not a confidence interval.
Year-by-year breakdown
Yield on cost is next-year net income divided by total contributed capital, distinct from the starting dividend yield. The export includes all modeled years, not just this page.
| Year | Contributed | Portfolio | Real value | Gross dividends | Dividend tax | Next-year net income | Yield on cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $2,975 | 2.98% |
| 1 | $112,000 | $118,469 | $115,579 | $3,828 | $574 | $3,593 | 3.21% |
| 2 | $124,000 | $138,147 | $131,490 | $4,586 | $688 | $4,271 | 3.44% |
| 3 | $136,000 | $159,134 | $147,772 | $5,419 | $813 | $5,015 | 3.69% |
| 4 | $148,000 | $181,541 | $164,467 | $6,334 | $950 | $5,833 | 3.94% |
| 5 | $160,000 | $205,487 | $181,621 | $7,338 | $1,101 | $6,730 | 4.21% |
| 6 | $172,000 | $231,104 | $199,280 | $8,441 | $1,266 | $7,716 | 4.49% |
| 7 | $184,000 | $258,536 | $217,497 | $9,652 | $1,448 | $8,800 | 4.78% |
| 8 | $196,000 | $287,941 | $236,326 | $10,984 | $1,648 | $9,991 | 5.1% |
| 9 | $208,000 | $319,492 | $255,826 | $12,448 | $1,867 | $11,301 | 5.43% |
| 10 | $220,000 | $353,381 | $276,060 | $14,059 | $2,109 | $12,742 | 5.79% |
| 11 | $232,000 | $389,817 | $297,097 | $15,832 | $2,375 | $14,329 | 6.18% |
| 12 | $244,000 | $429,032 | $319,009 | $17,784 | $2,668 | $16,077 | 6.59% |
| 13 | $256,000 | $471,281 | $341,877 | $19,934 | $2,990 | $18,003 | 7.03% |
| 14 | $268,000 | $516,844 | $365,784 | $22,305 | $3,346 | $20,127 | 7.51% |
1–15 of 21 records
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Reinvest vs. take cash: same assumptions
Both columns use your current inputs except the reinvestment choice.
| Measure | Reinvest dividends | Take cash income |
|---|---|---|
| Ending portfolio | $879,718 | $507,466 |
| Next-year net income / month | $3,203.99 | $1,848.22 |
| Goal reached | Year 16 | Not in this horizon |
A 1 percentage point higher dividend-growth assumption moves the goal-reach year by -1 year, to year 15. A 10% higher contribution amount does not change the year the goal is reached. These are two single reruns of the same model, not a full sensitivity sweep or a Monte Carlo simulation.
Compare saved scenarios
Shows up to 3 of your saved scenarios from this browser, side by side and on one chart. Save a scenario with the Save button to add it here.
After the projection
Separate income from the assumptions driving it
The payout is conditional on yield, growth, tax, and reinvestment choices. Change one input at a time so the source of the change stays visible.
- 01Toggle DRIP and compare ending capital
- 02Read net income after the tax assumption
- 03Export both scenarios for your review
This is the visible filtered page, not necessarily all dataset rows. Export CSV for the complete filtered results. Printed from DividendPathCalc.
Illustrative scenario
A one-year cash-income check
Inputs: $100,000 initial capital; $0 monthly contribution; 3.5% starting yield; 1 year; 0% dividend growth; 0% price growth; DRIP off; $300 monthly target; 15% tax; 0% inflation. Gross first-year dividends are $3,500; after the stated tax assumption, $2,975 remains, or $247.92 per month on average. This is an illustrative calculation, not a current payout quote.
IRS Topic 404: Dividends Example checked September 12, 2026
Get more from the numbers.
Practical field guides, not a wall of jargon.
FIELD GUIDE / 01
How dividend reinvestment changes the outcome
Separate new contributions, reinvested income, and market growth.
FIELD GUIDE / 02Plan for monthly dividend income
A yearly run rate divided by twelve is an average, not a payment schedule.
FIELD GUIDE / 03Dividend income and purchasing power
A larger nominal balance may buy less than you expect.
Good questions. Clear answers.
Is the projected return guaranteed?
No. Every growth rate is a user-selected assumption and actual prices and distributions can fall.
Are reinvested dividends taxed in the model?
Yes. The entered tax rate is applied before reinvestment.
Is monthly income a payment calendar?
No. It is the ending annual net income run rate divided by twelve.
Useful, with the assumptions left in.
Every tool has a calculation methodology and visible source context. Synthetic examples are labeled, missing records stay missing, and no forecast is presented as certainty. Read the methodology or report a correction.