What does the Investment Fee Calculator not do?

It uses one growth rate, the same every year. Real markets rise and fall; part 2 shows an example of a losing year. It takes the yearly fee once a year, after that year's growth, at the same rate every year. A provider's own schedule, or a fee that changes with your balance, may differ. It assumes you take no money out along the way. It does not take off tax, and it does not adjust for rising prices (inflation). It does not know whether your provider is worth its fee, or whether a cheaper option would earn the same. It does not name or recommend a provider, a fund or a plan. It is not financial advice.

Investment Fee Calculator: What Fees Take From Savings

Someone has to be paid for managing your money. But a fee that looks small, like 1%, is taken every year from everything you have, even in a year you lose. Compare fees side by side and see what each one takes from your savings.

See what fees take from your money

What do you want to find out?

What does my fee cost me?

What do I gain if I lower my fee?

Compare fees side by side

You know your yearly fee. We find what it takes from your savings, in money.You know your fee today and a lower fee you could ask for. We find how much more money you keep.You know two or three fees. We find what each one takes, side by side.

Your money

Amount invested today

In savings, a pension, a fund or a managed account. Already paid fees for years? Enter the amount you started with.

Amount you add each month (optional)

Number of years

years

Your fee

Your yearly management fee

On your statement the fee may be called "management fee", "advisory fee" or "expense ratio".

Not sure? Typical yearly fees, tap one to try it:

Your estimates

Estimated yearly growth before fees

A rough long-term average, not a promise. The same growth is used for every fee, so only the fee changes.

Your estimate

Help

What this calculator is for

A fee of 1% a year sounds small. You want to know what it really takes from your savings over the years, and whether a lower fee would make a real difference.

The Investment Fee Calculator answers that in your own numbers, for money in savings, a pension, a fund or a managed account. It shows what a yearly fee takes from you over the years, and what you would keep with a lower one.

It also shows what most people miss: a fee takes the money you pay, and also the growth that money would have made.

It does not say whether your provider is good or bad. It puts the price of the fee on the table. The decisions stay with you.

Three ways to ask

At the top of the calculator, under What do you want to find out?, there are three cards. Choose by what you already know:

What does my fee cost me? You know your fee. We find what it takes from your money over the years.
What do I gain if I lower my fee? You know your fee today and a lower fee you could get. We find how much more money you keep.
Compare fees side by side. You have two or three fees in front of you. We show what each one takes, side by side.

None of them is the "simple" or the "advanced" one. They are three angles on the same fee.

Two kinds of answer

Every question gives you two answers, one after the other.

Your estimate is the quick one. The form starts empty: until you have typed the amount, the years and the fee or fees the question asks for, the card shows what is still needed. Then it gives the answer and changes while you type.

In the first question, the card says what your money would grow to with no fee, what it grows to with your fee, and what the fee takes. In the second, it shows your money with each of the two fees and how much more you keep. In the third, it shows what each fee takes, side by side. A line under it says what the answer assumes: the same growth every year, before fees, before tax and inflation. The yearly fee is taken once a year, on the balance after that year's growth, and no money is taken out along the way. Further down, a chart shows your money over the years.

When your money does not grow. If you set the growth to 0%, the card says your money did not grow, so the fee came straight out of your own money. The fee is taken every year, gain or loss.

Under the card there is a line that says your answer is only part of the answer. Under it, a one-line preview with your own numbers, such as what every 0.1 percentage point of fee costs you: the difference between no fee and a 0.1% fee, on your numbers. Each further 0.1% costs a little less, so ten times that amount is a little more than a 1% fee takes. Then a button: 4 things worth knowing about your fee (3 things in the second and third questions, and in the first when the fee is 0%).

The button opens the insights, in numbered parts. At the top, What your numbers reveal lists them, one line each, with your own numbers:

What are my fees really costing me? What the fee takes, in two parts, what you pay each year, and what every 0.1% of fee costs.
Why real life may differ from your plan: markets rise and fall, and a fee is taken even in a year your money loses value. Tax and inflation are not included.
Ways to make it work (first question only, when the fee is above 0%): what half your fee, or a quarter of it, would keep.
Your next question: what people usually ask next, with links.

If you change a number after opening it, the button reads Update my numbers. Click it and the insights catch up.

Start over, in the Your estimates box, clears everything you typed. If you click it by mistake, Undo brings your numbers back.

The fees, and your currency

Under the fee fields there are typical yearly fees you can tap to try: Index fund 0.05%, Index ETF 0.14%, Managed fund 0.64%, Advisor 1% and Advisor + managed fund 1.64%. In the first question a tap tries the fee; in the second it fills The fee you could get; in the third it fills Fee B, to compare. On your statement the fee may be called "management fee", "advisory fee" or "expense ratio". If a separate advisor fee and a fund's expense ratio (the fund's own yearly cost) are both charged on the same money, their sum is about your total yearly fee, as in Advisor + managed fund 1.64%. Don't add a charge that is already part of another fee.

Amount invested today is normally your balance today, for an estimate from now on. Its hint adds: already paid fees for years? Enter the amount you started with, and the years since, to estimate that whole period. That is an estimate, not a record of the fees you actually paid.

Estimated yearly growth before fees starts at 7%: an example assumption, not a forecast for your investment. The same growth is used for every fee, so only the fee changes. Type a return before fees: if your figure already has the fee taken off, entering the fee again would count it twice.

Some plans charge more than the yearly %. Other fees you may pay (most people can skip this), in the Your estimates box, opens three more: Fee on every deposit (a % taken from each amount you add), Fixed fee each year (a set amount, such as an account fee) and One-time fee when you join (a % taken once, from the amount you start with). These other fees are the same for every fee you compare. If you don't see these on your statement, leave them at 0.

Above the fields, a line shows the country the page detected, such as Using (detected): United States · USD · ..., with Not your country? Change it. It sets the currency. The line also shows inflation and a tax rate, but this calculator does not apply them: its amounts are before tax and inflation. Every amount also has a small currency box; changing it changes the symbol, not the numbers you typed.

Your numbers stay private: what you type is calculated in your browser. It is not sent to us or stored.

Three scenarios, three people

Instead of a tour of every box, here is the calculator through the eyes of three people. Each one has a different question about fees, and each question is one of the cards at the top.

Scenario 1: What does my fee cost me? Daniel, 52, pays an advisor 1% a year to manage his inheritance.
Scenario 2: What do I gain if I lower my fee? Michael, 38, could move his $60,000 from a 1% fund to a 0.2% one.
Scenario 3: Compare fees side by side. Ryan, 33, is choosing between three funds for his savings.

The people are made up. The numbers are the calculator's real answers for their inputs, in US dollars, with the starting growth of 7% a year, the same every year, before tax and inflation.

Open the scenario closest to your own question. You do not need to read all three.

Start here when you know your fee. You want to know what it takes from your money.

Daniel's question

Daniel is 52, an engineer, married, with two children. He inherited $400,000. An advisor manages it for him, for 1% a year.

He plans to leave it invested for 15 years, until he is 67, and add nothing.

His question: what does that 1% really cost me?

His worry: spending the inheritance without noticing, a little each year.

What Daniel enters

He keeps the first card, What does my fee cost me?.

In Amount invested today he types 400,000. He leaves Amount you add each month at 0. In Number of years he types 15.

In Your yearly management fee he types 1. He could also tap Advisor 1% under it.

He leaves Estimated yearly growth before fees at 7%, and the other fees at 0. His results are before tax and inflation.

Daniel's answer

With no fee, his $400,000 would grow to $1,103,613 in 15 years. With his 1% fee, it grows to $949,171.

Under these assumptions, the fee will take $154,441 from him: that is how much less he would have than with no fee. (Amounts are rounded, so they can differ by a dollar.)

What the insights show Daniel

The preview line above the button: every 0.1 percentage point of fee costs him about $16,439 over 15 years. He clicks 4 things worth knowing about your fee.

Part 1, What are my fees really costing me?, splits the $154,441 in two:

$99,092 is the fees he paid.
$55,349 is the profit that money would have made if it had stayed invested.

What he pays each year: $4,280 in year 1, about $357 a month. It is more than 1% of $400,000 because the fee is taken on the balance after the year's growth: 1% of about $428,000. In year 15, $9,588, about $799 a month. The fee grows because his money grows.

Every 0.1 percentage point of fee costs him about $16,439: that is the difference between no fee and a 0.1% fee. The card adds a reminder: 0.2% and 0.02% are not "almost the same"; one is ten times the other.

Part 2, Why real life may differ from your plan, reminds him that real markets rise and fall. Its example: say at the end of year 5 his money reached $533,525, and then the market fell 10%, to $480,173. The 1% fee is taken on that, so it still takes $4,802. This time it does not come from a gain this year: it comes out of money he already had.

Part 3, Ways to make it work, changes only the fee:

With half your fee (0.5%): he keeps $74,506 more.
With a quarter of it (0.25%): he keeps $113,773 more.

Part 4, Your next question, points to the Compound Interest Calculator and the Savings Withdrawal Calculator.

Daniel's doubt

"1% is what everyone charges. Is $154,441 really the price?"

It is the price of the fee in his numbers, with everything else kept the same: the same money, the same growth, the same 15 years. The calculator does not say whether his advisor is worth it, or that a cheaper option would earn the same. It shows what the fee costs, so he can weigh it against what he gets for it.

Start here when you have a lower fee in mind. You want to know how much more you would keep.

Michael's question

Michael is 38 and runs a small business. He has $60,000 set aside. He plans to leave it invested for 20 years and add nothing.

It is in a fund that charges 1% a year. A low-cost fund would charge 0.2%.

His question: is moving worth the trouble?

His worry: changing things for a difference too small to matter.

What Michael enters

He clicks the second card, What do I gain if I lower my fee?.

In Amount invested today he types 60,000, leaves Amount you add each month at 0, and in How many years the money stays invested types 20.

In Your fee today he types 1, and in The fee you could get 0.2.

He leaves the growth before fees at 7% a year, the same for both funds, and the other fees at 0. His results are before tax and inflation. (In the Compound Interest Calculator, Michael's money was invested at 3%; this example assumes a different investment.)

Michael's answer

With his 1% fee, his $60,000 grows to $189,903 in 20 years. With 0.2%, to $223,068.

Under these assumptions, he keeps $33,165 more after 20 years. In the next year alone, the lower fee keeps $514.

What the insights show Michael

He clicks 3 things worth knowing about your fee.

Part 1, What are my fees really costing me?, starts with what the lower fee keeps, $33,165, and then looks at his fee today. Over 20 years, the 1% fee takes $42,279: $23,439 in fees he paid, plus $18,840 of profit that money would have made.

What he pays each year: $642 in year 1, about $53 a month; $1,918 in year 20, about $160 a month. The difference between no fee and a 0.1% fee is about $4,600 over 20 years; it is not what lowering his own fee by 0.1% would keep.

Part 2, Why real life may differ from your plan: in a year the market falls 10%, the 1% fee still takes about $720 in the example (at the end of year 5, $80,029 falls to $72,026). It does not come from a gain that year: it comes out of money he already had.

Part 3, Your next question, points to the Compound Interest Calculator and the Savings Withdrawal Calculator.

Michael's doubt

"$514 next year is not much. Why bother?"

$514 is one year. The difference builds on itself: the money the lower fee keeps stays invested and grows too. With the same growth each year, it reaches $33,165 after 20 years.

The calculator shows only the difference between the two yearly fees, with the same growth for both. It does not include any charge or tax for moving his money, so $33,165 is not what moving would net him. Whether moving is worth it is his call.

Start here when you have two or three fees in front of you. You want to see what each one takes.

Ryan's question

Ryan is 33, a software developer, and single. He has $150,000 invested and puts in $2,500 a month. He wants to stop working at 50, in 17 years.

He is choosing between three funds: one at 0.5% a year, one at 0.2%, and an index fund at 0.05%.

His question: how much does the choice of fund really matter?

His worry: quitting work one day and finding out he paid away years of savings.

What Ryan enters

He clicks the third card, Compare fees side by side.

In Amount invested today he types 150,000, in Amount you add each month 2,500, and in Number of years 17.

Under Fees to compare (yearly), he types 0.5 in Fee A, the fee you pay, 0.2 in Fee B, to compare, and 0.05 in Fee C. He leaves the growth before fees at 7% and the other fees at 0. His results are before tax and inflation.

Ryan's answer

The card shows what each fee takes from him over 17 years: how much less he would have than with no fee, counting the fees paid and the growth that money would have made.

Fee A, 0.5% a year: $87,790.
Fee B, 0.2% a year: $35,835.
Fee C, 0.05% a year: $9,050.

Between 0.5% and 0.05%, the difference is $78,740 over 17 years.

What the insights show Ryan

He clicks 3 things worth knowing about your fee.

Part 1, What are my fees really costing me?, starts with the gap between the highest and the lowest fee, $78,740, and then looks at Fee A. Of the $87,790 it takes, $57,830 is fees he paid and $29,960 is profit that money would have made. In year 1 it takes $957, about $80 a month; in year 17, $6,736, about $561 a month. The difference between no fee and a 0.1% fee is about $18,039 over 17 years.

Part 2, Why real life may differ from your plan: in the example of a year the market falls 10% (at the end of year 5, $380,394 falls to $342,355), the 0.5% fee still takes $1,712.

Part 3, Your next question, points to the Compound Interest Calculator and the Savings Withdrawal Calculator.

Ryan's doubt

"0.5% and 0.05% both sound like almost nothing. Can the difference really be $78,740?"

Over 17 years, with $2,500 going in every month, yes, in his numbers. One fee is ten times the other, and each is taken from his whole balance every year, as the balance grows.

The calculator does not say which fund to choose, or that the cheapest one will earn the same. It shows what each fee costs, with the same growth for all three.

The rest of the page

The parts below are the same whichever question you chose.

Explore What Your Fees Really Cost

THE BIGGER PICTURE

What a small yearly fee adds up to, and how to judge yours

What your answer means, which fees it may miss, what a typical fee looks like, and what the calculator cannot know.

Someone has to be paid for managing your money: a fund, a pension plan, an advisor, or all three. So the real question is not whether you pay a fee. It is how much, and whether that amount is fair for what you get.

Most people see the fee once, as a small percentage on a statement or in a contract, and never see it again as money. The calculator turns that percentage into dollars, over the years your money stays invested.

What your answer is telling you

The fee is taken from everything, every year. A 1% fee is not 1% of what you put in. It is 1% of your whole balance, gains included, taken again each year. That is why the amount grows: on $100,000 growing 7% a year, a 1% fee takes about $1,070 in year 1 and about $3,197 in year 20.
The answer has two parts. Over 20 years that 1% fee takes $70,464 from you: $39,066 in fees you paid, plus $31,398 that this money would have earned if it had stayed invested. Most people only ever think about the first part.
Time makes it bigger, fast. Leave the same $100,000 for 30 years instead of 20 and the 1% fee takes $198,147, almost three times as much for 10 more years.
What the answer does not say. It does not say your provider is good or bad, and it does not say a cheaper option would earn more. It shows the price of the fee in money, with everything else kept the same, so you can weigh it yourself.

Fees that stack, and fees that hide

Many people pay more than one fee at the same time, and the percentages add up. An advisor who charges 1% a year and puts your money in managed funds that charge 0.64% a year costs you about 1.64% a year in total. On $100,000 over 20 years at 7%, that takes $108,968 from you, compared with $70,464 for the advisor’s 1% alone.

Not every fee is a yearly percentage. The US Securities and Exchange Commission lists three groups of fees ↗:

Ongoing fees, taken every year: the advisor’s fee, the fund’s yearly fee (its expense ratio), retirement plan fees.
Fees when money moves: a fee on each deposit, a one-time fee when you join or buy (a sales load), a fee when you leave early.
Account fees: a fixed yearly account fee, fees for inactivity, transfers or closing the account.

The calculator’s main field is the yearly percentage. The others are under “Other fees you may pay”. If you are not sure which ones you pay, your statement or your plan’s fee document lists them. Look for words like “expense ratio”, “management fee”, “advisory fee” or “total annual fees”.

What a typical fee looks like, and why the comparison must be fair

Typical yearly fees in the US, as averages:

Index fund (a fund that follows a market index): about 0.05%. Index ETF: about 0.14%.
Managed fund (a manager picks the investments): about 0.64%.
Financial advisor, charging a percentage of the money they manage: about 1%, often less on larger amounts.

Sources: fund averages for 2025 from the Investment Company Institute ↗, the US fund industry’s research body; advisor fees from a 2024 survey of advisors by Kitces Research. Fees in other countries can be different.

These numbers are only fair to compare within the same kind of product. An index fund and a portfolio picked and managed by a person are different services, so their fees are not “apples to apples”. The useful comparison is your fee against the typical fee for the same kind of product, or against the fee another provider asks for the same service.

Questions worth asking whoever charges you

The SEC suggests one simple question ↗: “If I give you $1,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?” A few more that the calculator’s answer makes easier to ask:

What is my total yearly fee, with every fee added together?
Is the fee taken from my whole balance, or only from new deposits?
Is there a fee on each deposit, a fee to join, or a fee to leave?
Does the fee get lower as my balance grows?
Can the fee be lowered, and what would change if it were?

The answers are yours to weigh. A higher fee can come with services you value. The calculator only puts a price on it.

What to test next

Your real fee. Put in the total from your statement, including any fees under “Other fees you may pay”.
A lower fee. Use “What do I gain if I lower my fee?” with the fee you think you could get. It shows what you would gain next year and by the end.
Your real time frame. Try the number of years until you expect to use the money. The longer it is, the more the fee matters.
A fair comparison. Use “Compare fees side by side” with fees for the same kind of product.
More than one account. If you have a pension, a fund and an advisor account, each may charge a different fee. Run each one on its own.

Want to see how the same money grows with no fee at all? The Compound Interest Calculator shows it. Planning to live from your savings one day? The Savings Withdrawal Calculator shows how long they could last.

What this calculator cannot know

Real markets. It uses one steady growth rate. Real years go up and down, and the fee is taken either way.
Tax and inflation. All amounts are before tax and in future dollars, not adjusted for rising prices. A tax-advantaged account changes the tax, not the fee: the fee is taken there too.
Your exact fee schedule. Some providers lower the percentage above certain amounts, or charge monthly or quarterly. The calculator uses one yearly rate, which gives a close estimate.
What the fee buys. Advice, planning or peace of mind have value that no calculator can measure. It shows the cost, not the value.

Financial terms, explained

Words that appear in this calculator or on this page, in plain English.

Management fee: What you pay each year for someone to manage your money, as a percentage of your balance. On a $100,000 balance, a 1% fee is about $1,000 that year.
Expense ratio: A fund’s yearly fee, as a percentage of the money you have in it. It is taken inside the fund, so you usually don’t see it as a separate charge. SEC: mutual fund fees ↗
Advisory fee: What a financial advisor charges, often a yearly percentage of the money they manage for you. It comes on top of the fees of the funds they choose.
Fee on every deposit: A percentage taken from each amount you add, before it is invested. Common in some pension plans.
Fixed fee each year: A set amount of money, such as an account fee, charged no matter how much you have.
One-time fee when you join (sales load): A percentage taken once, when you put money in. With a 2% fee, $2,000 of a $100,000 start never gets invested.
Index fund and index ETF: Funds that follow a market index instead of having a manager pick investments. They usually charge low fees. An ETF is a fund that trades like a share.
Managed fund: A fund where a manager chooses what to buy and sell. Its yearly fee is usually higher than an index fund’s.
Balance: Everything in your account at a given moment: the money you put in plus the growth so far, minus the fees already taken.
Yearly growth before fees: How much your money is assumed to grow each year before any fee is taken. The calculator uses the same growth for every fee, so only the fee changes.
Growth you lose because of fees: What the money taken as fees would have earned if it had stayed in your account. It is part of what the fee takes from you, and over many years it can be almost as large as the fees themselves.

Common questions about investment fees

Is a 1% fee high?

It depends on what it pays for. For a financial advisor who manages your money, about 1% a year is common in the US. For a fund on its own, 1% is high: index funds average about 0.05% and managed funds about 0.64%. On $100,000 over 20 years at 7%, a 1% fee takes $70,464 from you. The useful comparison is your fee against the typical fee for the same kind of service.

Does a difference of 0.1% really matter?

Yes, more than it looks. On $100,000 over 20 years at 7%, every 0.1% of yearly fee costs you about $7,666. And 0.2% can look almost the same as 0.02%, but it is ten times bigger. Over the same 20 years, 0.2% takes $15,188 and 0.02% takes $1,545.

Do I pay the fee in a year my investments lose money?

Yes. A percentage fee is taken from whatever your balance is, in good years and bad. Say you start with $100,000, and after 5 years at 7% with a 1% fee it has reached $133,381. Then the market falls 10%, to $120,043. A 1% fee still takes about $1,200 that year, and this time it does not come from a gain. It comes from your own money.

Does a fund with a lower fee always earn more?

No. A lower fee means less is taken, not that the investments will do better. The calculator keeps the growth the same for every fee on purpose, so you can see the price of the fee alone. Two different funds can grow at different rates.

Is my advisor’s fee worth it?

The calculator cannot tell you that. It shows what the fee costs in money; the value of advice, planning or peace of mind is yours to judge. Knowing the cost in dollars makes that judgment easier, and makes it easier to ask what you get for it.

Can I ask for a lower fee?

Often you can ask, and some providers do lower it, for example for larger balances. Whether they agree is up to them. Before you ask, use “What do I gain if I lower my fee?” to see what the difference is worth: lowering 1% to 0.7% on $100,000 over 20 years keeps about $19,745 more in your account.

Investment Fee Calculator (Excel)

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