Compare DRIP and cash on the same basis
In our two-year test, DRIP ends at $10,609; taking cash leaves $10,000 invested plus $600 cash. The comparable difference is $9, not $609. Inputs below are hypothetical, and cash is assumed retained without interest. Neither path guarantees a future payment.
The SCHD dividend calculator already includes the non-reinvested cumulative cash in its DRIP-difference calculation. Its portfolio summary and cumulative-dividend summary answer different questions. This audit explains their relationship; it does not claim the routine lost a payment or miscalculated the difference.
Keep the test inputs fixed
Assume a $10,000 starting value, 3% initial modeled yield, two annual model steps, $0 monthly additions, zero price growth and zero modeled-yield growth. Run those same values with the DRIP switch off and on. The 3% input means 3 ÷ 100 = 0.03; it is chosen for this arithmetic test, not read from an issuer yield field. Taxes, fees and a return on retained cash are not modeled.
| Path | Asset value | Cumulative dividend memo | Extra retained cash | Comparable total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DRIP on | 10,609 | 609, already reinvested | 0 | 10,609 |
| DRIP off | 10,000 | 600, taken as cash | 600 | 10,600 |
Rebuild the two paths
Without reinvestment, zero growth and zero additions keep the modeled asset value at $10,000. Each annual cash calculation is $10,000 × 0.03 = $300. After two steps, assets remain $10,000 and cumulative cash is $600. If that cash is retained separately without interest, the comparable total is $10,600.
With reinvestment, year one adds the modeled $300 cash to assets, making $10,300. The next calculation is $10,300 × 0.03 = $309, producing $10,609 in assets. The cumulative-dividend memo is $300 + $309 = $609. Adding that memo to $10,609 again would produce $11,218, an overcount of $609 in this fixture.
Comparing asset values alone gives $10,609 − $10,000 = $609. But $600 of that gap is cash held outside the non-reinvesting asset balance. Counting it once gives $10,609 − ($10,000 + $600) = $9. In this controlled case, the $9 also equals $300 × 0.03: year-two modeled cash generated by the first reinvested amount.
What changes when the switch changes?
The routine calculates both asset paths on every run. The switch selects which path supplies the portfolio summary, annual-dividend column and cumulative-dividend column. In the two-year fixture, switching off shows $10,000 and $600; switching on shows $10,609 and $609. The displayed DRIP difference remains $9 because its expression uses both paths and subtracts the cash-inclusive alternative.
The result table also contains both asset paths at once. Our downloaded replay preserves the selected switch, each row and the unrounded numbers, so you can distinguish a different presentation from different assumptions. We ran each input case twice and verified that both switches produced the same two asset paths and the same comparable difference.
Download all paired runs and exact arithmetic (CSV) · Download the audited calculation-code snapshot
Zero and boundary checks
After only one model year, the two comparable totals are both $10,300: one path has reinvested the $300 and the other holds it separately. There is no modeled reinvestment advantage yet. At zero yield, both paths stay at $10,000 with zero cash. At zero starting money and zero additions, every money output is zero.
A contributions-only test starts at $0 and adds an assumed $100 monthly. The current annual-average routine produces $18 of first-year cash in either path. In year two it produces $54.54 with DRIP and $54 without it. The ending comparison is $2,472.54 versus $2,400 + $72 = $2,472, a $0.54 difference. Its whole-dollar display is $1; the CSV retains the decimal calculation. This annual-average fixture is not a schedule of actual trade dates.
A blank yield also produces zero cash in the current parser. That is observable fallback behavior, not evidence of a deliberately chosen zero yield. The test retains the blank entry and marks its financial meaning unknown.
| Case | DRIP assets | Cash-path assets | Retained cash | Difference | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| two_year | 10609.0000 | 10000 | 600.00 | 9.0000 | explicit hypothetical fixture |
| one_year | 10300.00 | 10000 | 300.00 | 0.00 | explicit hypothetical fixture |
| ten_year | 13439.16379344121920490000 | 10000 | 3000.00 | 439.16379344121920490000 | explicit hypothetical fixture |
| zero_yield | 10000 | 10000 | 0 | 0 | explicit hypothetical fixture |
| zero_capital | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | explicit hypothetical fixture |
| contributions_only | 2472.5400 | 2400 | 72.00 | 0.5400 | explicit hypothetical fixture |
| blank_yield | 10000 | 10000 | 0 | 0 | missing yield; code fallback zero, financial assumption unknown |
Download boundary inputs and expected outputs (CSV)
Limits of this comparison
The comparison assumes cash is retained, rather than spent or reinvested elsewhere. A different use of the cash requires a different model. These annual steps are not SCHD distribution dates, purchase fills or tax calculations. To audit actual reinvestment prices and shares, use the cash-to-shares reconciliation; to separate spending cash from gross distributions, use the historical zero-results worksheet.
For an allocation between the two endpoints, use the partial-reinvestment worksheet.
Sources and audit scope
The production calculator source was fetched and executed on October 11, 2026, then independently checked with decimal arithmetic. Every financial input above is hypothetical. A public question distinguishing ending principal, dividends and overall balance motivated the labels; no forum number supplied a calculation input. The readable DRIPCalc and Wisesheets pages already discuss cash and reinvestment, so that general idea is not claimed new. Our contribution is this site's exact toggle trace, worked fixtures and paired-run test files. This is a bounded editorial comparison, not a whole-web originality or ranking claim.