Dividend investing turns a portfolio into a stream of income. This calculator projects that stream forward for a European investor: how much you’d collect each year, how it grows as companies raise their payouts and you keep buying, and what you actually keep after dividend tax. It’s dividend-growth-aware, so it doesn’t assume a flat payout forever.
Dividend Calculator
How to Use This Calculator
Enter your current portfolio value, what you add each month, and the dividend yield you expect (3% to 4% is typical for a diversified dividend portfolio; high-yield strategies reach further but carry more risk). Then set:
- Annual dividend growth: quality dividend payers tend to raise their dividends over time. A 4% to 6% long-run growth assumption is reasonable for a broad dividend portfolio.
- Dividend tax / withholding: the European reality. Dividends are usually taxed as income or at a flat savings rate, and foreign dividends often suffer withholding tax on top. Enter your effective rate to see the income you’d actually receive.
- Reinvest dividends: reinvesting (DRIP) compounds your income much faster; taking the income gives you cash to live on now. Toggle between the two to see the difference.
What the Result Tells You
The headline is your projected annual dividend income in the final year, after tax. Below it you’ll see the gross figure, your portfolio value at the end, and the total dividends collected along the way. Reinvesting usually produces a dramatically larger income later, because each dividend buys more shares that pay their own dividends, the snowball effect applied to income rather than capital.
Dividend Tax in Europe
This is where European investors need their own numbers. Local dividend tax varies widely, and on top of it, dividends from foreign companies are often hit with withholding tax at source (commonly 15% to 30%), some of which you may reclaim through tax treaties, some of which you may not. Domicile of your ETFs matters too: an Irish-domiciled fund, for example, is a common choice for European investors partly for its treatment of US dividend withholding. Put your realistic effective rate in the tax field, and read up on the rules for where you file.
What This Calculator Doesn’t Model
- Dividend cuts. Real companies sometimes reduce or suspend payouts, especially in downturns.
- Share price movements separate from dividend growth; the model ties portfolio growth to your dividend growth assumption for simplicity.
- Inflation eroding the real value of the income over time.
- The nuances of reclaiming foreign withholding tax, which depend on your country and broker.
Next Steps
If income is your goal, my guide to investing covers how to build a portfolio as a European resident, and you can compare a total-return approach with the compound interest calculator or check when this income could fund independence with the FIRE calculator.
