How much do fees cost you?
Compare the same starting balance and contributions at two different fee levels. The gap is fee drag — money you lose to costs, not to the market.
Are these calculators investment advice?
No. They do arithmetic. AlphaLens does the research. Every decision is yours.
Do the calculators store my portfolio?
Calculator inputs at /tools/ are processed in the browser. They are not treated as an account profile.
10 / 20 / 30-year comparison
Same inputs, three time horizons — showing how the gap widens the longer money compounds.
| Years | Fee A ending value | Fee B ending value | Difference |
|---|
How to read this number
Both columns start from the same balance, the same contributions, and the same gross market return — the only thing that differs is the fee. The dollar difference is what the higher fee cost you in compounded growth, not in a single year, but over the whole period. Fees look small annually and large only in hindsight, which is exactly why they're easy to underweight.
Formula & assumptions
Common questions
What is fee drag on investments?
Fee drag is the reduction in your investment's compounded growth caused by ongoing fees, such as a fund's expense ratio, compared to a lower-fee alternative earning the same gross return.
How much difference can 0.75% in fees make over time?
Because fees compound alongside returns, even a fraction of a percent can subtract a meaningful share of the ending balance over multi-decade periods. The exact amount depends on the starting balance, contributions, gross return, and time horizon.
Is a 1% fee a lot for an investment fund?
It depends on what you are comparing it to. Many low-cost index funds charge a small fraction of 1%, so a 1% fee is high relative to that benchmark, though it may be typical for actively managed funds.
Go deeper
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