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Calculators · Investing

What a 1% fee costs you

Fees come out every year, whether your investments go up or down. Over decades, a small percentage turns into a big number.

$
years
% a year
The same 7% as How to Get to a Million. An assumption, not a promise.
%
%
Fees are a yearly % of everything you have invested (an advisor fee, or a fund's "expense ratio").

What the 1% fee costs you over 40 years

At 0.05%
At 1%
You put in

The gap grows every year

Low-cost fundHigher fee

Follow the moneyHow to get to a millionCompound interestIndex fund

An illustration using your assumptions. The fee is taken off the yearly return (7% − 1% = 6%), using the same month-by-month method as How to Get to a Million (deposits at the end of each month, yearly compounding). Taxes and inflation are left out. Education, not financial advice.