See how much of your future wealth goes to fund expense ratios and advisor fees over time — including the growth you lose on the money paid away.
Compare fee levels
| Total annual fee | Final balance | Cost of fees | Wealth lost |
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🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter or upload is sent to our servers.
How to use the Investment Fee Calculator
- Enter your current invested balance, your monthly contribution and how many years you’ll stay invested.
- Enter the expected annual return before fees, then the fund expense ratio and any advisor / platform fee as percentages.
- Compare the final balance with and without fees. The table shows the same figures for common fee levels.
About this tool
Fund fees are quoted as a small annual percentage, which makes them look harmless. But they are charged every year on your whole balance, and the money taken never gets to compound. A 1% fee on a 7% return isn’t 1% of your money — it’s a seventh of your return, every year, for decades. Over 30 years that typically removes a quarter of the final balance.
The calculator grows your money month by month at the gross return, then again at the return net of fees (return − expense ratio − advisor fee), and compares the two. The difference is the true cost of the fees: the fees themselves plus all the growth they would have earned.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical expense ratio?
Broad index funds and ETFs: 0.03%–0.20%. Actively managed funds: 0.5%–1.5%. Add any platform or advisor fee on top — traditional advisors often charge about 1% of assets per year.
Is a 1% advisor fee worth it?
The calculator shows what it costs in money terms; only you can judge the value of the advice. For a 30-year horizon the cost is usually around a quarter of your final balance, so the advice needs to add at least that much.
Does the return I enter include fees?
Enter the gross return (before fees). If you only know a net figure, add the fee back on first.
Are trading costs and taxes included?
No. Bid-ask spreads, transaction fees and taxes are extra. They matter less than ongoing percentage fees for most long-term investors, but they are not zero.