ETF Total Return Calculator – How Much Would It Be Worth Today? (2024)

On this page is an ETF return calculator and CEF return calculator which automatically computes total return including reinvested dividends. Enter a starting amount and time-frame to estimate the growth of an investment in an Exchange Traded Fund or Closed End Fund, or use the tool as an index fund calculator. Additionally, simulate periodic investments into a fund by year, month, week, or day.

There are thousands of exchange traded funds in our database, accurate to within the last 7 trading days.

ETF Total Return Calculator with Dividend Reinvestment and Periodic Investments

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How To Use the ETF Total Return Calculator

To begin, you need to enter at least an ETF's ticker. As you type, it will auto-complete active exchange traded fund tickers.

Basic Exchange Traded Fund Details and Inputs

ETF Total Return Calculator – How Much Would It Be Worth Today? (1)

Ticker: Enter a valid, active ETF ticker [ZIP] from Tiingo (or CEF ticker)
Starting Amount ($): In dollars, an initial investment amount
Starting Date: Enter when an investment was first made °
Ending Date: Enter when an investment was sold °

° Depending on the ETF data (see more below), we might adjust the starting date and ending date. Check again after your calculation.

Advanced Dividend and Periodic Investment Options

ETF Total Return Calculator – How Much Would It Be Worth Today? (2)

Click 'Toggle Advanced' to open the advanced ETF dividend and investment panel.

Interpreting ETF Model Results

ETF Total Return Calculator – How Much Would It Be Worth Today? (3)

Final Value ($): The value of the ETF or CEF investment on the 'Ending Date'. Again, note we may change that date depending on the database refresh limit.
Annual Return: Our estimate of the annualized percentage return by the investment, including any periodic investments. The final value will show the actual ending balance if you want to compute a total return instead. (See our compound annual growth calculator)
Graph: The value of the ETF investment over time. If you're on desktop, hover over a point to see the investment value snapshot on any day in your scenario.

How do the periodic ETF and CEF investments work?

The tool is backed by a database with OHLC prices on exchange traded funds, with entries for splits and dividends. For your choice of dates, we model an investment at the open price – for the initial lump sum and any dividends – then calculate the portfolio value at daily close.

If you choose to model periodic investments, they are also added at daily open prices. To make the logic simple, we invest(the next legal market day) 1, 7, 30, or 365 days after the previous investment respective to your time frame choice. If dividends and periodic investments would have occurred on the same day, those calculations are independent.

Modeling Dollar Cost Averaging

Using the tool and periodic investments, you can also model dollar cost averaging. Dollar cost averaging is our preferred normal style of investing, where you invest on a regular basis.

For periodic windfalls you receive, we prefer investing the lump sum all at once.

Source and Methodology of the Exchange Traded Fund Total Return Calculator

The ETF return calculator is a derivative of the stock return calculator. Much of the features are the same, but (especially for smaller funds) the dividend data might be off.

The tool uses the Tiingo API for price and dividend data. Tiingo isn't free, so we have some very modest limits in place:

ETF and CEF data may be up to 7 trading days old. Note: weekend refreshes and market holidays might mean this is over 7 'actual' days'.
- Always check the tool ending date after a scenario to see data recency of the ETF.
Here are the rate limits in place:
- Maximum 50 calculations per day
- Maximum 10 calculations per minute
Limits apply across all of the Tiingo calculators

Limitations and Disclaimers

The exchange traded fund total return calculated contains idealized return data. It is based on closing and opening prices and would not match a real investor's gains exactly.

The tool is for informational purposes only. We cannot warrant any results. ETF outputs are good for initial research, but please verify any information the tool outputs independently.

Note that there are other factors the tool is ignoring:

Taxes
Your portfolio management fees
Dividend timing
Slippage
Other things

It is very possible that the price or dividend datasets are wrong too (please report it if you find a bug).

Using the tool as an Index Fund return calculator

Many ETFs track published indexes, so the tool is very useful as a quick comparison on index funds. (Yes, we know – many more are in mutual fund form.)

For the gold standard of index fund returns – perhaps with less resolution – see the prospectus of the fund. This calculator will give you a reasonable approximation of index fund returns, but your ETF provider probably calculated them exactly.

Bug Reports, Feature Requests, and Requests to Help with the ETF Total Return Calculator

Let us know if you find a bug. Include the fund with the issue so I can debug it.

Feel free to send enhancement requests, just know that the bar is very high. Outside of ads, I'm not paid to build or maintain this tool. For significant requests, please make a contracting inquiry.

Again, this information is for informational and research purposes only. We cannot and will not be able to help in a legal capacity. We can only help you with research inquiries. For legal inquiries, this data might be a useful starting point, but you probably need a professional known as a "forensic accountant".

ETFs, CEFs, Dividends, and Total Returns

We've maintained some version of a stock return calculator for some time now. After a mutual fund return calculator, an ETF return tool has been one of our most popular requests.

As we like to stress on this site, dividend adjusted returns are the most important returns. Unless you are shoveling your dividend checks into your fireplace (or shredder), dividends are real money which you can use to reinvest. Those additional shares also lead to real money. Dividends make up a huge amount of return when you trace them back over a long enough timeframe.

This tool, in many ways, is better than some of our popular index total return calculators. ETFs (and mutual funds) are the most common ways to track an index, although they include fees and slow down dividend timing. However, they are the most common way to track an index... making them more accurate for individual investors.

If you'd like to compare:

Dow Jones Industrial Average Calculator
Wilshire 5000 Calculator
ETF or Mutual Fund Fee Calculator

Adjust Your CEF and ETF Returns for Total Returns

ETFs are relatively new when compared to common stocks and mutual funds. Still – at least for ETFs that pay dividends – we often see returns quoted out of context. When you buy VTI or DIA, don't only look at the price return on your fund. Be sure to factor in any additional shares you buy from the dividends you receive.

(Or, at least, know that you're spending the dividends.)

We hope you enjoyed the CEF and ETF total return calculator. Use it in good health, and tell your friends!

PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

ETF Total Return Calculator – How Much Would It Be Worth Today? (2024)

FAQs

How to calculate ETF total return? ›

Total Returns (Monthly)-ETFs

Morningstar calculates the market-price return by taking the change in the fund's market price, reinvesting all income and capital-gains distributions during the period, and dividing by the starting market price.

How do you calculate the value of an ETF? ›

The NAV is determined by adding up the value of all assets in the fund, including assets and cash, subtracting any liabilities, and then dividing that value by the number of outstanding shares in the ETF. The ETF market price and ETF NAV may slightly differ due to intra-day changes in supply and demand.

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How much is my ETF worth? ›

The value of both mutual funds and ETFs are calculated using the net asset value (NAV), which uses the end of trading day price for each underlying asset. The NAV of an ETF is equal to the value of each share measured by the value of all the fund's underlying holdings at their closing price for the day.

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What is the average return of an ETF? ›

What is the Average ETF Return? The average ETF return will vary depending on each fund's strategy and goals. However, broad market ETFs generate an average return between 7-10%. You can invest in ETFs that track specific types of stocks, such as high dividend-paying companies.

How do you calculate total return value? ›

The formula for calculating total return is Total Return = (Ending Value – Beginning Value + Dividends or Interest) / Beginning Value * 100.

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How do I check my return on ETF? ›

You can also use a benchmark that tracks a similar set of investments (for example, the S&P 500 Index) to monitor the performance of active ETFs. Fees and expenses paid by the ETF reduce its returns – the ETF returns will not exactly match the returns of the benchmark.

How do you calculate yield on an ETF? ›

To determine true yield, investors can total all distributions over the preceding 12 months and divide the sum by the NAV at that time.

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How do you calculate total fund value? ›

Net Asset Value Formula

The NAV of a mutual fund is calculated by subtracting the total liabilities from its total assets. Since NAV is typically expressed on a unit price basis, i.e. per share, NAV must be divided by the total number of units outstanding.

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How do you calculate ETF cost? ›

ETFs typically have an expense ratio of 0.05%. An investor can determine the expense ratio by dividing the annual expenses of the investment by the fund's total value, though the expense ratio is also typically found on the fund's website.

What is fair value for ETFs? ›

Pricing fair value of an ETF

At the core, most ETFs represent a basket of assets. The price of such an ETF should be equal to the cost of replicating the basket. For example, buying the individual constituents should be equal to the cost of buying the index.

Do ETFs lose value over time? ›

A leveraged ETF is a fund that uses financial derivatives and debt to amplify the returns of an underlying index. Certain double or triple-leveraged ETFs can lose more than double or triple the value change of the tracked index. Therefore, these types of speculative investments need to be carefully evaluated.

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How do you value an ETF? ›

So how, then, is an ETF's daily NAV computed? This value is taken from the most recent closing prices of the holdings of the ETF (on a weighted basis) plus any cash that it holds. Then, deduct any liabilities that the ETF may have on its balance sheet and divide that amount by the number of ETF shares outstanding.

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What if I invested $1000 in S&P 500 10 years ago? ›

Over the past decade, you would have done even better, as the S&P 500 posted an average annual return of a whopping 12.68%. Here's how much your account balance would be now if you were invested over the past 10 years: $1,000 would grow to $3,300. $5,000 would grow to $16,498.

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How do you calculate expected return on an ETF? ›

The expected return is calculated by multiplying the probability of each possible return scenario by its corresponding value and then adding up the products. The expected return metric – often denoted as “E(R)” – considers the potential return on an individual security or portfolio and the likelihood of each outcome.

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What are total return ETFs? ›

For ETFs and mutual funds, total return includes both the price change of the shares and the assumption that all dividend and capital gain distributions are reinvested. For stocks, it is assumed that dividend payments are reinvested on the ex-dividend date.

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What is the formula for the total rate of return? ›

To calculate the rate of return subtract the original value from the current value, divide the difference by the original value, then multiply by 100.

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How do you calculate total fund return? ›

Use the following formula: Total Investment Return = (Ending Value - Beginning Value + Income) / Beginning Value Where: Ending Value: The current value of the investment. Beginning Value: The initial value of the investment. Income: The total income generated by the investment, including dividends and interest.

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How do you calculate the yield of an ETF? ›

ETF Distribution Yield

To calculate distribution yield, take the total distributions over the last 12 months and divide them by the net asset value of the fund at the end of the 12-month period. Many issuers use an alternate method to calculate: multiply the most recent distribution by 12 and then divide by the NAV.

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