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The Investor's Guide to Fund Fees

Learn how fees and expense ratios silently eat into your returns and how to choose more efficient investments.

See the True Cost of Fees

Our Fund Fee Analyzer shows you the dramatic difference that seemingly small fees can make to your investment portfolio over the long term.

Use the Fund Fee Analyzer
What is an Expense Ratio?

An expense ratio is the annual fee that all mutual funds and ETFs charge their shareholders. It's expressed as a percentage of the fund's total assets and covers the fund's operating costs, including management fees, administrative costs, and marketing expenses.

This fee is deducted automatically from the fund's returns, so you might not notice it directly. However, over time, it has a significant compounding effect on your investment's growth.

Why a Small Fee Makes a Big Difference

Consider two funds that both earn a 7% annual return. Fund A has a 0.25% expense ratio, while Fund B has a 1.25% expense ratio. That 1% difference might seem small, but over 30 years, it can cost you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost returns.

The money paid in fees is money that is no longer invested and compounding for you. Our Fund Fee Analyzer is designed to make this impact crystal clear.

How to Use the Analyzer

Our tool helps you compare two funds with different fee structures:

  • Common Details: Enter your initial and monthly investments, the expected pre-fee return, and the investment period.
  • Fund Details (for both): Provide a name and the expense ratio for each fund.
  • Analyze Fees: Click the button to see a chart comparing the funds' growth and how much the difference in fees affects your total returns.