Compounding

$1,500/month at 7% DRIP CAGR over 20 years = ~$782K; at 4%, ~$550K — a $232K gap driven entirely by the assumed return rateEvery 1% shift in assumed return adds or removes ~$110K–$130K in terminal value at year 20; sensitivity is nonlinearTax drag in taxable accounts reduces effective reinvestment yield by 15–25%; account type is a primary, not secondary, variable2020 S&P dividend cuts (~14% aggregate quarterly reduction) pushed realized DRIP rates 200bps below model assumptions for high-yield ETFsDRIP reinvestors during the Q1 2020 drawdown outperformed non-reinvestors by 12–18% by year-end — a volatility effect flat-line models ignore entirely What the 20-Year Simulation Data Actually Shows Monthly $30K investment 20-year compound growth simulation Running $1,500/month at 4%, 7%, and 10% for 20 years produces a divergence that widens sharply in the back half of the period....

A 0.47 percentage-point fee gap means 6.97% net versus 6.50% net on a 7.00% gross-return assumption.With $1,500 invested monthly for 30 years, total contributions reach $540,000 and the projected ending balance is roughly $1.74 million at 0.03% versus $1.60 million at 0.50%.The spread is about $143,000, or roughly 8% of the lower-fee ending balance, before taxes and slippage.As of Apr. 15, 2026, VOO traded near $640.44 with a 1.11% dividend yield and a 27....