ETF Return Calculator
See what actually happened to your investment — using real prices and every distribution paid.
Dates are calculated dynamically. "Since Inception" uses the ETF's inception date.
Select an ETF first
Enter initial investment amount
All data is real historical prices and actual distributions — no projections, no assumptions.
Real results will appear here after you calculate.
How This Calculation Works+
Purchase and sale prices come directly from CRADY's recorded daily closing prices for the selected ETF — the same price history used throughout CRADY.
A purchase or sale date that wasn't a trading day snaps to the nearest prior trading day, and the adjustment is always shown.
A distribution counts only if its ex-dividend date falls on or after your (adjusted) purchase date and on or before your (adjusted) sale date — the same eligibility rule used by CRADY's Portfolio Analyzer.
Shares purchased = investment amount ÷ purchase price, with no rounding, so the dollar amount you enter is fully invested.
When Reinvest Distributions is on, each eligible distribution buys additional shares at that distribution's real ex-dividend-date closing price — walked chronologically, so each reinvestment compounds on the growing share count.
The exact holding period is scanned for a split-shaped price discontinuity before any number is shown. If one is found, CRADY withholds the result rather than risk a distorted number.
This tool shows pre-tax total return only. It does not model your account type, tax bracket, or how a fund's distributions are characterized (ordinary income, qualified, or return of capital).
Historical ETF Return Calculator: Common Questions
How do you calculate historical ETF returns?+
CRADY looks up the ETF's real recorded closing price on your purchase date (or the nearest prior trading day) to work out how many shares your investment would have bought, then looks up the real price on your sale date for the ending share value. Every distribution the fund actually paid with an ex-dividend date inside your holding period is added on top. Total return = (ending share value + distributions received − initial investment) ÷ initial investment. Nothing here is estimated or projected — it's what actually happened.
How does CRADY handle weekends and market holidays?+
If you pick a date the market was closed, CRADY uses the closing price from the nearest prior trading day and clearly labels the date as adjusted, right under the date field and again in the results. It never uses a future price for a past date.
What happens if I reinvest distributions (DRIP)?+
With DRIP off (the default), each distribution is treated as cash received on top of your share value. With DRIP on, every eligible distribution is used to buy more (fractional) shares at that distribution's real ex-dividend-date price, the same way a brokerage dividend reinvestment plan works — so later distributions and the final sale are paid on a larger share count. DRIP based on real historical prices, not an assumed rate.
How does CRADY handle stock splits and reverse splits?+
CRADY's price history isn't stored with split-ratio metadata, so an unrecorded split would otherwise silently distort a return calculation. Before showing a result, CRADY scans the price history across your exact holding period for a single-day price move large enough to be split-shaped. If one is found, CRADY shows you the flagged date instead of a number it can't verify — it will never quietly show a return built on a broken price series.
Why do YieldMax and other high-distribution ETFs need this kind of calculator?+
A high distribution rate is not the same as a high total return — a fund's share price can fall even while it pays large distributions. This calculator's whole point is showing both halves side by side: how much the share value actually changed, and how much cash the distributions actually added, so you can see whether one offset the other.
The Portfolio Analyzer runs this same real-data return calculation across your entire portfolio at once, with alternative-ETF comparisons and a full health score.
This calculator is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice. It shows real historical performance for the exact dates selected — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Download the CRADY App
Get dividend alerts the moment a payment is confirmed, track your portfolio's expected income, and let CRADY calculate your predicted dividends automatically.
- Dividend Alerts
- Portfolio Tracking
- Predicted Dividend Calculator
- Watchlist
Every figure on this page (yield, CRADY Score, next-dividend prediction) is computed by rule-based logic from real payment history — never hand-written or guessed.
Prices, dividend payment history, and payment schedules are collected from each ETF issuer's public disclosures and public market data.
Prices, dividend history, predictions, and CRADY Scores refresh automatically once a day through an automated pipeline — no manual editing of any figure.
All figures are statistical estimates based on historical data, not investment advice. Predictions can differ from an issuer's eventual official announcement.