Most brokers let you enable Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) in under a minute — but the toggle is hidden in a different place at each one. Here is where to look.
Why You Want DRIP On
A dividend hitting your account as cash is a decision: do you reinvest? buy something else? leave it? Enabling DRIP removes the decision and lets compounding work uninterrupted. Our DRIP Calculator shows the long-term gap vs taking cash.
Fidelity
- Sign in to Fidelity.com.
- Go to Accounts & Trade → Account Features → Dividends and Capital Gains.
- Select Update next to each position (or the whole account).
- Choose Reinvest in Security.
Charles Schwab
- Sign in.
- Service → Account Settings → Dividend Reinvestment.
- Toggle on per-position or for all eligible holdings.
Vanguard
- Sign in.
- My Accounts → Account Maintenance → Dividends and Capital Gains.
- Switch each holding to Reinvest.
Robinhood
- Open the app.
- Profile → Investing.
- Tap Dividend Reinvestment and toggle on.
What Happens Next
The next time the security pays a dividend, the broker buys whole and fractional shares at that day's price. Each reinvestment creates a new tax lot — track them in our Stock Cost Basis Calculator if you ever need to verify.
Important Caveats
- DRIP only works on stocks and ETFs that pay dividends.
- Inside a taxable account, reinvested dividends are still taxed in the year received.
- For mutual funds, dividends and capital gains distributions are usually reinvested by default.
Bottom Line
Turn DRIP on for every dividend-paying position you intend to hold long-term. Then forget about it.
Run the numbers yourself
Plug your own inputs into our free calculators — no signup.