Hidden costs

ETF Fee Calculator

A fee of 1% sounds small. Over decades it isn't. See what your fees really cost — including the growth they take with them.

$
$
yrs
%
% a year
Fund fee plus any platform or adviser fee.
% a year
ETF examples use each fund's TER.
Add every layerA fund's expense ratio is only part of the cost. Platform, account and adviser fees are charged on the same balance — add them together.
Currency

Your fees would cost

1% a year · 25 years
$71,143

That's 15.4% of what you'd have with no fees at all.

Fees taken
$38,524
Growth they'd have earned
$32,619

Against the lower-cost option

At 1%
$391,147
Fees cost $71,143
At 0.07%
$456,844
Fees cost $5,446

Paying 0.07% instead of 1% leaves you $65,697 better off after 25 years — for the same investments and contributions.

The gap over time

Hover or tap the chart for any year
At 0.07% balanceYour contributionsAt 1%
$0$125k$250k$375k$500kNowYr 2Yr 4Yr 6Yr 8Yr 10Yr 12Yr 14Yr 16Yr 18Yr 20Yr 22Yr 25

Fees are charged on your whole balance every year, so the gap widens as your money grows. Constant 7% return before fees, for illustration.

What each fee level costs

Same plan · 25 years at 7% before fees
Annual feeFinal balanceTotal cost of feesShare of balance lost
0.03%$459,947$2,3430.5%
0.1%$454,532$7,7581.7%
0.2%$446,925$15,3653.3%
0.5%$424,980$37,3108.1%
0.75%$407,651$54,63911.8%
1%$391,147$71,14315.4%
1.5%$360,445$101,84522%
2%$332,568$129,72228.1%

Why small fees add up

Fees are charged on your whole balance, every year. As your investments grow, so does the amount taken — and each dollar removed can no longer compound. With $10,000 plus $500 a month for 25 years at 7%:

  • At 1% a year, fees cost about $71,143 (15.4% of the no-fee result).
  • At 0.07% a year, they cost about $5,446 (1.2%).

The difference — about $65,697 — comes from nothing but cost. Same investments, same contributions.

How this calculator works

Your balance grows each month at the return you set, minus the annual fee divided by 12. The total cost is the gap between that result and the same plan with no fee, split into the fees taken directly and the growth those fees would have earned.

Lowest-cost ETFs in our list

SPYL · S&P 5000.03%
VOO · S&P 5000.03%
VTI · CRSP US Total Market0.03%
IVV · S&P 5000.03%
BND · Bloomberg US Aggregate Float Adjusted0.03%
VXUS · FTSE Global All Cap ex US0.05%

Fees from our fund data; always confirm on the provider's factsheet.

Frequently asked questions

What is an expense ratio (TER)?

The total expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund charges to run itself, shown as a percentage of your investment. It's taken from the fund automatically, so you never see a bill — it simply shows up as slightly lower returns.

Is a 1% fee a lot?

Over a long time, yes. On $10,000 plus $500 a month for 25 years at 7%, a 1% yearly fee costs about $71,143 — roughly 15% of what you'd otherwise have. The same plan at 0.07% loses about $5,446.

Why is the cost bigger than the fees I actually pay?

Every dollar taken in fees stops growing. The calculator shows both parts: the fees taken directly, and the growth that money would have earned if it had stayed invested. Together they're the true cost.

What fees should I include?

Everything charged as a percentage of your balance: the fund's expense ratio, any platform or account fee, and any adviser fee. One-off trading commissions and currency conversion costs are extra and not modelled here.

Are cheaper ETFs always better?

Not automatically. Two funds tracking different indexes aren't directly comparable, and things like domicile, tax and tracking quality matter too. But between two funds holding the same thing, the cheaper one usually wins over time.