Monthly Dividend Income Calculator
Work out how much you need invested to earn a target monthly income from dividends, or flip it around and see what a given portfolio would pay. Free, no signup, and everything runs in your browser.
How much do you need for a given monthly dividend income?
Multiply your target monthly income by twelve, then divide by your portfolio's dividend yield. For $1,000 a month, that's $12,000 a year, which needs $300,000 invested at a 4% yield or $400,000 at 3%.
Required capital = (Monthly target × 12) ÷ Dividend yield
Note: this page covers dividends paid by stocks and funds. If you're looking at a credit union share account, the "dividend" there is savings interest and works differently.
Your figures
Results
Enter your figures and press Calculate.
| Yield | Capital required | Difference vs your assumption |
|---|
How this calculation works
The core of it is one line of arithmetic. Dividend yield is annual dividends divided by portfolio value, so rearranging that gives you the capital needed for any income target:
Required capital = (Monthly target × 12) ÷ Dividend yield
A $1,000 monthly target is $12,000 a year. At a 4% yield, $12,000 divided by 0.04 gives $300,000. The relationship is linear, so doubling the target doubles the capital, and halving the yield doubles it too.
Two very different kinds of number on this page
The capital figure is exact arithmetic. Given your target and your yield, there is only one answer and it isn't a forecast.
The years-to-target figure is something else entirely. It assumes you keep contributing at the same rate, that dividends are reinvested, that the yield holds steady, and that no dividend gets cut along the way. Treat it as a rough timeline, not a schedule.
Why the yield assumption matters so much
Look at the difference between yields in the results table. Moving from a 5% assumption to a 3% one raises the capital needed by two thirds for the same income. Most people pick a yield casually and then treat the resulting capital figure as solid, when the opposite is true: the output is only as good as that one input.
There's also a tradeoff underneath it. A portfolio built for a high yield today tends to grow its payouts more slowly, while a lower-yielding one built around dividend growth starts smaller and climbs. Neither is automatically the right answer, and this calculator takes no position on which you should pick.
What this calculator does not do
It ignores taxes and fees, both of which reduce what actually reaches you. It doesn't model dividend growth, so the income figure it produces is a snapshot at today's yield rather than a rising stream. It assumes dividends are neither cut nor suspended. And because most US stocks pay quarterly, the monthly figure is an average across the year rather than a payment you'd receive every month.
For the fuller picture, including reinvestment, dividend growth, taxes and inflation, use the dividend growth calculator on the homepage.
Capital needed by income target and yield
Every figure below is the target annual income divided by the yield. Pick the row for your income goal and the column for the yield you think you can achieve.
| Monthly income | At 2% | At 3% | At 4% | At 5% | At 6% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 / month | $60,000 | $40,000 | $30,000 | $24,000 | $20,000 |
| $250 / month | $150,000 | $100,000 | $75,000 | $60,000 | $50,000 |
| $500 / month | $300,000 | $200,000 | $150,000 | $120,000 | $100,000 |
| $1,000 / month | $600,000 | $400,000 | $300,000 | $240,000 | $200,000 |
| $2,000 / month | $1,200,000 | $800,000 | $600,000 | $480,000 | $400,000 |
| $3,000 / month | $1,800,000 | $1,200,000 | $900,000 | $720,000 | $600,000 |
| $5,000 / month | $3,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $1,200,000 | $1,000,000 |
| $10,000 / month | $6,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $2,400,000 | $2,000,000 |
Figures are before tax and assume the yield stays constant. The yield columns are a range for comparison, not a suggestion about which one to aim for.
Worked example
Suppose you want $1,000 a month in dividend income.
- Annualize the target: $1,000 × 12 = $12,000 a year.
- Pick a yield. At 4%, divide: $12,000 ÷ 0.04 = $300,000.
- Test the assumption. At 3% the same target needs $400,000. At 5% it needs $240,000.
That spread is the point. A two percentage point swing in the yield assumption changes the capital requirement by $160,000 for the identical income. If you're planning around one of these figures, plan around the conservative end of the range rather than the flattering one.
Adding contributions
Say you already have $50,000 invested and can add $1,500 a month. Entering those figures alongside the $300,000 target tells you roughly how long the gap takes to close with dividends reinvested along the way. That timeline shifts with every assumption in it, so treat it as an order of magnitude rather than a date.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need invested to make $1,000 a month in dividends?
$1,000 a month is $12,000 a year. Divide that by your portfolio yield to get the capital required. At a 3% yield you would need $400,000. At 4%, $300,000. At 5%, $240,000. The yield you assume drives the answer more than anything else, which is why the table above shows a range rather than a single figure.
How much do I need invested to make $2,000 a month in dividends?
$2,000 a month is $24,000 a year. At a 3% yield that requires $800,000. At 4%, $600,000. At 5%, $480,000. Every figure is simply double the $1,000 a month case, because the arithmetic scales linearly.
How much do I need invested to make $3,000 a month in dividends?
$3,000 a month is $36,000 a year. At a 3% yield that requires $1,200,000. At 4%, $900,000. At 5%, $720,000.
How much do I need invested to make $10,000 a month in dividends?
$10,000 a month is $120,000 a year. At a 3% yield that requires $4,000,000. At 4%, $3,000,000. At 5%, $2,400,000. Because the relationship is linear, a $10,000 target needs exactly ten times the capital of a $1,000 target at the same yield.
How do I calculate my monthly dividend income?
Multiply the amount invested by the portfolio yield to get annual dividend income, then divide by twelve. A $200,000 portfolio at a 4% yield produces $8,000 a year, which averages $667 a month. Averages is the operative word, since most US stocks pay quarterly rather than monthly.
Do dividend stocks actually pay monthly?
Most US stocks pay quarterly, so a single holding produces income four times a year rather than twelve. Genuinely monthly income usually comes from one of two approaches: holding funds or trusts that distribute monthly, or holding several quarterly payers whose payment months are staggered so that something arrives each month. This calculator works in annual terms and divides by twelve, so it shows an average rather than a guaranteed monthly cheque.
Is it better to have a higher yield or higher dividend growth?
They trade off against each other, and which one wins depends on your time horizon. A higher yield produces more income immediately and needs less capital to hit a target today. A lower yield that grows faster produces less at the start but can overtake the high yielder given enough years. Neither is universally better. The dividend growth rate calculator on this site can tell you how fast a particular dividend has actually been growing.
Does this calculator include taxes?
No. Every figure here is before tax and before any fees. In a taxable account your income after tax will be lower, which means the capital required to hit a spendable target is higher than shown. The main dividend growth calculator on this site has a tax rate input if you want to model that effect.
Sources
The dividend yield definition underpinning this calculation was checked against independent references before publishing:
- Investing.com Academy: dividend metrics and definitions
- Investor.gov (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission): Direct Investing
The required-capital calculation itself is arithmetic rearrangement of the dividend yield definition, not a proprietary model.
Disclaimer: This calculator is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or tax advice. The capital figure assumes the yield you entered holds steady and that dividends are neither reduced nor suspended, neither of which is guaranteed. The years-to-target figure is a projection built on your assumptions, not a plan. All figures exclude taxes and fees, which reduce the income you actually receive. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Always consult a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions.
Last updated: August 1, 2026