SCHD (Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF) pays quarterly — the next ex-dividend date is projected around Sep 23, 2026 — with a trailing yield near 3% and roughly 10% annual dividend growth since its 2011 inception. This calculator projects your SCHD income and DRIP reinvestment year by year.
Inputs are prefilled with SCHD's actual share price ($34.33) and trailing dividend yield (3.1%) as of Sep 16, 2026 — edit any field to model your own scenario.
| Year | Start Balance | Start Shares | Share Price | Div / Share | Div Yield | Yield on Cost | Annual Div | Total Divs | End Shares | End Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | 291.29 | $34.33 | $1.06 | 3.10% | 2.77% | $310.00 | $310.00 | 335.28 | $12,316 |
| 2 | $12,316 | 335.28 | $36.73 | $1.25 | 3.41% | 3.39% | $419.97 | $729.97 | 379.38 | $14,911 |
| 3 | $14,911 | 379.38 | $39.30 | $1.47 | 3.75% | 4.11% | $559.32 | $1,289.28 | 424.14 | $17,837 |
| 4 | $17,837 | 424.14 | $42.06 | $1.74 | 4.13% | 4.97% | $735.99 | $2,025.27 | 470.17 | $21,158 |
| 5 | $21,158 | 470.17 | $45.00 | $2.04 | 4.54% | 6.00% | $960.28 | $2,985.55 | 518.18 | $24,950 |
| 6 | $24,950 | 518.18 | $48.15 | $2.40 | 4.99% | 7.24% | $1,245.65 | $4,231.20 | 568.97 | $29,313 |
| 7 | $29,313 | 568.97 | $51.52 | $2.83 | 5.49% | 8.75% | $1,609.85 | $5,841.05 | 623.51 | $34,372 |
| 8 | $34,372 | 623.51 | $55.13 | $3.33 | 6.04% | 10.59% | $2,076.41 | $7,917.46 | 682.94 | $40,284 |
| 9 | $40,284 | 682.94 | $58.99 | $3.92 | 6.65% | 12.87% | $2,676.90 | $10,594 | 748.67 | $47,252 |
| 10 | $47,252 | 748.67 | $63.11 | $4.61 | 7.31% | 15.70% | $3,453.94 | $14,048 | 822.41 | $55,539 |
| 11 | $55,539 | 822.41 | $67.53 | $5.43 | 8.04% | 19.25% | $4,465.68 | $18,514 | 906.3 | $65,489 |
| 12 | $65,489 | 906.3 | $72.26 | $6.39 | 8.84% | 23.74% | $5,792.30 | $24,306 | 1,003.07 | $77,555 |
| 13 | $77,555 | 1,003.07 | $77.32 | $7.52 | 9.73% | 29.47% | $7,545.44 | $31,852 | 1,116.18 | $92,342 |
| 14 | $92,342 | 1,116.18 | $82.73 | $8.85 | 10.70% | 36.87% | $9,882.45 | $41,734 | 1,250.14 | $110,664 |
| 15 | $110,664 | 1,250.14 | $88.52 | $10.42 | 11.77% | 46.53% | $13,028 | $54,762 | 1,410.87 | $133,634 |
DRIP compounding for SCHD: distributions buy more shares, which pay more distributions next period. Growth rates are planning assumptions, not predictions.
Estimates only, not financial advice. Dividend yields and growth rates are assumptions, not guarantees of future results. Always consult a qualified financial professional before investing.
SCHD’s yield has recently been near 3%, varying as the share price moves. Yield follows the formula:
yield = annual dividend per share ÷ price × 100
See the Dividend Yield Calculator for the exact math on any stock or ETF.
SCHD pays quarterly. When you reinvest each payment, your share count rises, so the next quarter’s dividend is paid on more shares. With historical dividend growth near 10% per year, the compounding effect is meaningful over a decade or more.
Model any starting yield or growth rate in the DRIP Calculator.
SCHD has grown its annual distribution every full year since its 2011 launch. The table below shows approximate annual distributions per share — treat them as a rough guide and verify current figures with Schwab or your broker before deciding.
| Year | Approx. annual distribution / share |
|---|---|
| 2024 | ~$2.60 |
| 2023 | ~$2.36 |
| 2022 | ~$2.04 |
| 2021 | ~$1.70 |
| 2020 | ~$1.45 |
SCHD tracks an index of roughly 100 U.S. companies with a track record of paying dividends, screened for fundamentals like cash-flow growth, return on equity and five-year dividend growth. The ETF’s own payout is simply the aggregated cash dividends of those holdings, so SCHD’s yield rises when its holdings are cheap and falls when they rally. Top sectors historically include consumer staples, healthcare, industrials and utilities — businesses that generate steady cash through most economic cycles.
Because the payout comes from real company profits rather than option premiums or return of capital, it tends to be more durable than the sky-high yields on covered-call ETFs. The trade-off is a lower starting yield near 3%.
Say you invest $10,000 in SCHD at $80/share with a 3% yield, 10% dividend growth and 7% price growth, reinvesting every quarterly payment. After the first year you own a few extra shares bought with dividends; by year 10 your reinvested dividends have added a meaningful slice of shares on top of your original 125, and your projected annual dividend income has grown well beyond the initial $350. Run your own numbers in the calculator above — change the yield or growth assumption to see how sensitive the outcome is to those two inputs.
SCHD raises its payout once a year with the December declaration, so the recent history below typically shows three equal payments and then a step up — the projected rows assume the newest amount keeps repeating on the quarterly cadence until the next annual raise.
| Ex-dividend date | Per-share amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2026 | $0.253 | Paid |
| Mar 25, 2026 | $0.257 | Paid |
| Dec 10, 2025 | $0.278 | Paid |
| Sep 23, 2026 | ~$0.253 | Projected — assumes last amount repeats |
| Dec 23, 2026 | ~$0.253 | Projected — assumes last amount repeats |
| Mar 24, 2027 | ~$0.253 | Projected — assumes last amount repeats |
Historical amounts from Yahoo Finance (quarterly payer). Projected rows repeat the most recent per-share amount on the fund's cadence — distributions change from period to period, so confirm dates and amounts on the official fund page before trading. Data as of Sep 16, 2026.
Three runs through the same engine as the calculator above, using the live prefilled price and yield — dividend growth 10% a year, share price growth 7%, DRIP on. The story these numbers tell is dividend growth: the payout you end with is very different from the one you start with.
$1,000 lump sum, no monthly additions, 20 years, DRIP on
Twenty years of ~10% dividend growth turns a small starting payout into a yield-on-cost far above the price you paid — check the Yield on cost column in the year-by-year table above.
$10,000 lump sum, no additions, 20 years, DRIP on
The classic dividend-growth demo: most of the final income comes from raises and reinvestment, not the starting check.
$0 to start, $500 added every month for 20 years, DRIP on
Compare final value against the $120,000 you put in — then run the same plan in the QQQI calculator to see the income-now vs income-later trade-off side by side.
Every number above is precomputed at build time with this page's assumptions using our open-source math engine — see the methodology page for the exact formulas and how to verify them yourself.
SCHD is a dividend-growth story (lower ~3% yield, quarterly, rising payouts). If you want a high monthly cash flow instead, QQQI uses covered calls to target ~13% yield — at the cost of capped upside and different tax treatment. See the QQQI Dividend Calculator for that comparison.
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