Accumulate — build the pile
Before there is a number to reach, there is money going in. These calculators answer the contribution questions honestly: whether to invest all at once or drip it in, how much of a gross return actually survives fees and tax, and what a dividend snowball looks like once cuts and brackets are modeled.
DCA vs Lump Sum
Win-rate and 5th-percentile downside of drip-feeding vs investing at once, backtested over every start month.
AccumulateAfter-Tax Growth
The four-leak waterfall — gross return minus expense ratio, advice fee, tax, and inflation — as a keep-rate.
AccumulateDividend Snowball
After-tax DRIP with real IRS brackets, NIIT, and a 2008/2020 dividend-cut stress overlay.
What makes this stage different
The common trap in accumulation math is presenting a nominal, price-only, pre-tax number as if it were spendable wealth. Every tool here works in total return (dividends reinvested), applies expense ratios and any advice fee, and shows the result as a range rather than a single confident line. Where a decision hinges on timing — such as a windfall you could invest at once or spread out — the calculator backtests every historical start month and reports how often each path won, and by how much in the worst case.
Next stage
- Reach FI
Turn the pile into a target: Coast, Barista, lean/fat numbers, and savings rate.
- Methodology
How the backtest engine and tax layers are built.