acalculator

What does my expense ratio cost?

Type what you invest, the return you expect, the fund’s expense ratio and how long you hold it. The expense ratio calculator shows the fees taken, the growth those fees would have earned, and how much more a lower-cost fund would leave you.

Your numbers

Returns are never guaranteed.
What the expense ratio costs you
$3,691.27

An expense ratio of 0.5% on $10,000.00 costs you $3,691.27 over a 20-year hold.

Your balance
$35,005.57
With no fee
$38,696.84
Fees taken
$2,069.29
Growth lost to fees
$1,621.98
Fee in the first year
$53.50
Balance at the other expense ratio
$38,311.71
Difference to the other fund
$3,306.14
Years
20

What the expense ratio costs you: $3,691.27. An expense ratio of 0.5% on $10,000.00 costs you $3,691.27 over a 20-year hold.

How far do the fees pull the balance down?

What does each year look like?

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Works out what a fund’s expense ratio costs in dollars over the years you hold it: the fees taken, the growth they would have earned, and the gap to a cheaper fund.

Example with the default inputs (Amount invested $10,000.00, Added each year $0.00, Yearly return before fees 7%, Expense ratio 0.5%, Compare with an expense ratio of 0.05%, Years held 20): An expense ratio of 0.5% on $10,000.00 costs you $3,691.27 over a 20-year hold.

Method: Each year: grown = balance × (1 + return); fee = grown × expense ratio; balance = grown − fee + yearly addition. With no fee: balance × (1 + return) + addition. Cost = no-fee balance − your balance.

  • The return and the expense ratio stay the same every year, and the fee is taken once a year from the value after the year’s growth. Funds take it a little each day, which gives almost the same result.
  • Additions go in at the end of each year. Sales loads, trading costs and taxes are not included.
  • This is an estimate for planning, not investment advice.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Amount invested $100,000.00, Yearly return before fees 4%, Expense ratio 1%, Years held 20 gives Your balance $179,213.48, With no fee $219,112.31, Fees taken $27,831.76.Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov, How Fees and Expenses Affect Your Investment Portfolio (a $100,000 investment growing 4% a year for 20 years is worth about $208,000 with a 0.25% fee, $198,000 with 0.50% and $179,000 with 1.00%), https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/updated (retrieved 2026-10-03); year by year checked in Python (about $179,000 on the SEC page)
  2. Amount invested $100,000.00, Yearly return before fees 4%, Expense ratio 0.25%, Years held 20, Compare with an expense ratio of 0.5% gives Your balance $208,413.03, Balance at the other expense ratio $198,211.30, Difference to the other fund -$10,201.74.Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov, How Fees and Expenses Affect Your Investment Portfolio (a $100,000 investment growing 4% a year for 20 years is worth about $208,000 with a 0.25% fee, $198,000 with 0.50% and $179,000 with 1.00%), https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/updated (retrieved 2026-10-03)
  3. Amount invested $10,000.00, Yearly return before fees 7%, Expense ratio 0.5%, Years held 20, Compare with an expense ratio of 0.05% gives What the expense ratio costs you $3,691.27, Fees taken $2,069.29, Balance at the other expense ratio $38,311.71.
  4. Amount invested $5,000.00, Yearly return before fees 0%, Expense ratio 2%, Years held 1 gives Your balance $4,900.00, Fees taken $100.00, What the expense ratio costs you $100.00, Growth lost to fees $0.00, Fee in the first year $100.00.
  5. Amount invested $10,000.00, Added each year $1,200.00, Yearly return before fees 6%, Expense ratio 1%, Years held 10, Compare with an expense ratio of 0.1% gives Your balance $31,247.37, With no fee $33,725.43, Balance at the other expense ratio $33,468.63.

How it works

Start with B₀ = W₀ = C₀ = the amount invested. With the yearly return r, the expense ratio e, a comparison ratio c (0 when empty) and a yearly addition A (0 when empty), for each year k = 1 to the number of years:

  • grown = B₍ₖ₋₁₎ × (1 + r)
  • fee = grown × e
  • B = grown − fee + A (your balance)
  • W = W₍ₖ₋₁₎ × (1 + r) + A (the same money with no fee)
  • C = C₍ₖ₋₁₎ × (1 + r) × (1 − c) + A (the comparison fund)

The results:

  • What the expense ratio costs you = W − B at the end.
  • Fees taken = the sum of the yearly fees; growth lost to fees = cost − fees taken.
  • Fee in the first year = the year 1 fee.
  • Balance at the other expense ratio = C at the end; difference to the other fund = C − B (shown only when a comparison ratio is typed).

Rules

  • Amount from $0 to $10¹⁰; addition from $0 to $10⁹ a year; return from 0% to 30%; each expense ratio from 0% to 10%; 1 to 60 whole years.

Assumptions

  • The return and fees stay the same every year. The fee is taken once a year from the grown value; funds take it daily, which gives almost the same result.
  • Additions are at the end of each year. Sales loads, trading costs and taxes are not included. This is an estimate, not advice.

Worked examples by hand

The SEC’s example: $100,000 at 4% for 20 years with a 1% fee. Each year the balance is multiplied by 1.04 × 0.99 = 1.0296, so B = 100,000 × 1.0296²⁰ = $179,213.48 (the SEC says about $179,000). With no fee W = 100,000 × 1.04²⁰ = $219,112.31. The fees add up to $27,831.76.

The same with 0.25% and 0.50%. 100,000 × (1.04 × 0.9975)²⁰ = $208,413.03 and 100,000 × (1.04 × 0.995)²⁰ = $198,211.30 (the SEC says about $208,000 and $198,000). The difference is −$10,201.74.

The default: $10,000 at 7% for 20 years, 0.5% against 0.05%. B = 10,000 × (1.07 × 0.995)²⁰ = $35,005.57; W = 10,000 × 1.07²⁰ = $38,696.84; cost = $3,691.27, of which $2,069.29 is fees. C = 10,000 × (1.07 × 0.9995)²⁰ = $38,311.71.

$5,000 at 0% with a 2% fee for 1 year. grown = 5,000, fee = $100, B = $4,900.

$10,000 at 6% with $1,200 added each year, 1% for 10 years. Year 1: 10,600 × 0.99 + 1,200 = 11,694; and so on to B = $31,247.37; W = $33,725.43; at 0.1%, C = $33,468.63.

Other questions people ask

What is an expense ratio?

It is a fund’s yearly operating expenses (management fees, 12b-1 fees and other costs) as a percent of its assets. The SEC notes these fees come out of the fund’s assets, so they lower your return without a bill.

How much does a 1% expense ratio cost?

In the SEC’s example, $100,000 growing 4% a year for 20 years ends at about $179,000 with a 1% fee, against about $208,000 with a 0.25% fee. With no fee it would be $219,112, so the 1% costs about $39,900: $27,832 of fees plus the growth they would have earned.

How does the calculator apply the fee?

Each year the balance grows by the return, then the expense ratio is taken from that grown value, then any yearly addition goes in. This rule gives the SEC’s published figures to the nearest $1,000.

Why is the cost more than the fees?

Money taken as a fee no longer earns a return. The cost on the page is the balance with no fee minus your balance: the fees plus the growth they would have made.

Where do I find a fund’s expense ratio?

In the fee table of the fund’s prospectus, under annual fund operating expenses, and in its shareholder reports. Sales loads and trading costs are separate and not included here.

Is a small difference in expense ratio worth it?

It grows with time and money. $10,000 at 7% for 20 years ends $3,691 short of no fee at a 0.5% ratio, and a 0.05% fund keeps $3,306 of that.