The SCHD Snowball Calculator estimates how regular contributions, price appreciation, and reinvested dividends can compound over time when investing in the SCHD ETF.

How to Use the SCHD Snowball Calculator

Investors who want steady dividend income and long-term growth often choose dividend ETFs such as SCHD. This calculator helps you visualize what happens when you combine an initial investment, recurring monthly contributions, expected annual returns, and dividend yield — with the option to reinvest dividends to amplify compound growth. The interactive tool uses Plotly.js for the chart so you can see portfolio growth month by month and evaluate how dividends and contributions contribute to total value.

Why this tool matters

A snowball effect happens when returns and dividends are reinvested: the income you receive starts producing its own income, accelerating growth. The calculator shows three series: total portfolio value, cumulative contributions, and cumulative dividends. Seeing these lines together helps you understand whether investment gains are driven by contributions, appreciation, or reinvested dividends.

Step-by-step: entering inputs

1. Initial investment: Enter the amount of money you start with. This is the seed for the snowball.
2. Monthly contribution: Input how much you plan to add each month. Regular additions can be the most powerful driver of long-term results.
3. Estimated annual return (%): This represents expected price appreciation of the ETF. Use a conservative, realistic number rather than recent high returns.
4. Annual dividend yield (%): Enter the expected yield. SCHD historically pays a dividend; enter the yield you expect or the current yield you observe.
5. Dividend frequency: Choose quarterly, monthly, or annual distributions. The calculator approximates proportional dividend accrual monthly.
6. Reinvest dividends?: Toggle whether dividends are reinvested automatically. If yes, the calculator adds dividend amounts to the balance each period so they participate in future growth.
7. Years to simulate: Choose the time horizon. Longer horizons show the full snowball effect.
8. Inflation rate (optional): Adjust outputs for purchasing power to see inflation-adjusted (real) balances.

When you press “Calculate” the tool runs a monthly simulation, compounds appreciation, credits dividends, optionally reinvests them, and plots results using Plotly. It is responsive and sized to fit typical WordPress content areas (max-width 740px) and has a white background to match most themes when embedded via a Custom HTML block.

Reading the chart and summary

The main chart displays:

• Portfolio value (solid line): The total account balance over time.
• Contributions (dashed line): Total money you personally put in.
• Cumulative dividends (dotted line): The dividends you’ve collected, whether reinvested or not.

If the portfolio value line diverges upward past contributions, appreciation and dividends are amplifying growth. The summary below the graph gives a concise snapshot: final portfolio value, total contributions, and cumulative dividends. Use these to judge performance versus your goals.

Practical tips and scenarios to try

• Conservative vs. optimistic returns: Run the same inputs with different annual return and dividend yield assumptions.
• Reinvest vs. withdraw: Compare reinvestment on and off. Reinvesting usually shows much higher long-term balances.
• Increase contributions over time: Simulate increasing monthly contributions by re-running scenarios to model step-ups.
• Time horizon matters: Run shorter and longer horizons; the snowball effect compounds most dramatically across decades.
• Inflation adjustment: Review the inflation-adjusted line to understand future purchasing power rather than nominal dollars.

Limitations and assumptions

This tool simplifies reality for clarity and speed. Assumptions include:

• Monthly approximation of dividend and return timing. Real distributions are discrete and can change.
• No transaction fees, taxes, or slippage are modeled. Taxes on dividends and sales can materially change net outcomes.
• Annual return and dividend yield are constant inputs; in the real market they fluctuate.
• Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.

Disclaimer

This calculator provides estimates for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always consult a qualified financial advisor or tax professional for personalized advice.

FAQ

What does “reinvest dividends” mean?

Reinvesting dividends uses payouts to buy more shares immediately rather than taking cash. That accelerates compound growth because those additional shares earn returns and dividends too.

Is this calculator accurate for real SCHD performance?

The tool models growth using user-entered assumptions. It does not pull historical SCHD prices or actual past yields. Modeling historical performance requires price and distribution data.

How should I choose the annual return and yield inputs?

Use conservative, long-term expectations based on historical averages and research. Run multiple scenarios to see sensitivity.

Can taxes be included?

This version does not model taxes. Taxes on dividends and capital gains can reduce effective returns and should be considered in advanced models.

Can I export the results?

The embedded tool provides on-screen charts and summaries. You can extend it to export CSV by adding a routine that writes monthly rows to a file for download.

Where do I paste the code in WordPress?

Use a Custom HTML block or a widget that accepts HTML/JavaScript. If the theme strips scripts, insert via a child theme or plugin that allows raw HTML/JS.