ETF Total Return Calculator
A dividend-adjusted return calculator for high-dividend covered-call ETFs. Enter what you actually bought — the ticker, purchase date, and shares or amount invested — and see your real total return: current value plus every distribution you were actually entitled to (based on each payment's ex-dividend date), separated from raw price movement. Then compare it against what the same money would have returned in a real alternative ETF bought on the exact same date.
What this calculator does differently
- Price return vs. dividend income, always separate. A high distribution yield alone can mask a real price loss — this tool never combines the two into one number without showing both parts.
- Ex-dividend-date eligibility, not just date range.Buying after a fund has already gone ex-dividend doesn't entitle you to that payment — this calculator checks each distribution's actual ex-date against your purchase date, not just whether it falls after the day you bought.
- Purchase-date comparison, not share-count comparison. The alternative-ETF comparison uses the same dollar amount on the same date — not the same number of shares of a completely different, differently-priced fund.
- Only real distributions, never forecasts. Future predicted dividends are excluded from every historical return calculation.