ETF Dividend Calculator
See the dividend income an ETF actually pays you — after the fund’s expense ratio quietly takes its cut.
How the ETF dividend calculator works
Gross income is amount × gross yield. The expense ratio is charged on your whole balance, so the annual fee is amount × expense ratio — and your net income is gross income minus that fee.
The key insight the calculator surfaces: because the fee is a percentage of assets, not of income, it takes a much larger bite out of the dividend than its headline number suggests. A 0.35% expense ratio against a 4% yield equals roughly 9% of the income stream — every year.
That drag compounds against your total return over decades, not just the single year shown here. To project long-term growth with reinvestment, use the dividend reinvestment calculator, and see the best dividend ETFs guide for how popular funds compare.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate dividend income from an ETF?
- Multiply the amount invested by the ETF’s dividend yield, then subtract the fund’s expense ratio applied to your balance. $100,000 in a 4% ETF generates $4,000 gross; a 0.35% expense ratio costs $350, leaving $3,650 of net income.
- Does the expense ratio come out of my dividend?
- Effectively yes, though not directly. The expense ratio is charged against the fund’s assets, which lowers its net asset value and the distributions you receive. Because it is a percentage of your whole balance, a 0.35% fee on a 4% yield quietly takes roughly 9% of your income stream.
- What is a reasonable ETF expense ratio?
- Broad index and dividend ETFs are cheap — often 0.03% to 0.20%. Specialized income products like covered-call and high-yield ETFs charge more, commonly 0.35% to 0.95%. Over decades the difference compounds, so the fee matters more the longer you hold.
- Is the ETF yield shown before or after fees?
- Published “SEC yield” and distribution yields are generally reported net of the expense ratio already, because the fee is taken from fund assets. This calculator lets you start from a gross yield and see the fee explicitly so you can understand its size — useful when comparing a quoted headline yield to what reaches you.
- Are ETF dividends qualified?
- It depends on the holdings. Equity ETFs holding US stocks usually pass through mostly qualified dividends; bond, REIT, and covered-call ETFs distribute largely non-qualified income taxed at ordinary rates. Use the dividend tax calculator to estimate the after-tax amount.