Yield on Cost Calculator
Annual dividend income ÷ original cost basis: the growth of your income stream on the money you actually put in.
Yield on cost = annual dividend income ÷ what you originally paid. It measures the growth of your income stream, not the return available to new money today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is yield on cost?
Annual dividend income divided by the amount you originally invested (your cost basis). It measures how much your income stream has grown relative to what you paid.
How is it different from current yield?
Current yield prices the dividend against today's share price; yield on cost prices it against your purchase price. A long-held position with dividend growth can show a high yield on cost while its current yield stays ordinary.
Should decisions be based on yield on cost?
Carefully. It is a backward-looking measure of your own history. New money can only buy the current yield, so comparing an old position's yield on cost to a new opportunity's current yield mixes two different things.
The other four calculators, with worked examples computed from real payout records, are on the calculator hub. Every covered ticker also has a version with its own trailing payout pre-loaded, linked from the dividend tables. The model behind these results is written out on the methodology page.