What will my mutual fund be worth?
Enter what you invest, what you add each month, the expected return and the fund’s expense ratio and loads. See the value after fees and what the fees cost.
- Value after fees
- $130,574.41
$10,000.00 plus $200.00 a month, at 7% a year with a 0.5% expense ratio, is worth $130,574.41 after 20 years.
- Money put in
- $58,000.00
- Gain
- $72,574.41
- Expenses paid
- $5,808.90
- Sales loads paid
- $0.00
- Value with no fees
- $140,204.12
- What the fees cost you
- $9,629.71
- Months
- 240
Value after fees: $130,574.41. $10,000.00 plus $200.00 a month, at 7% a year with a 0.5% expense ratio, is worth $130,574.41 after 20 years.
How much do the fees take?
Where do the fees go each year?
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
Computes the value of a mutual fund investment with monthly additions after the expense ratio and front-end and back-end sales loads, and how much the fees cost against the same money with no fees.
Example with the default inputs (Initial investment $10,000.00, Added each month $200.00, Expected return (yearly) 7%, Expense ratio 0.5%, Years 20, Front-end load 0%, Back-end load (when you sell) 0%): $10,000.00 plus $200.00 a month, at 7% a year with a 0.5% expense ratio, is worth $130,574.41 after 20 years.
Method: Each month: return = value × ((1 + R)^(1/12) − 1); expense = (value + return) × expense ratio ÷ 12; the addition is invested after the front-end load. At the end the back-end load is taken from the value.
- The return and the expense ratio stay the same every year; real returns go up and down.
- Additions are made at the end of each month; each purchase pays the front-end load.
- The back-end load is a percent of the value when you sell.
- Taxes, account fees and breakpoints (lower loads for larger purchases) are not included. This is an estimate, not investment advice.
Worked examples
Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.
- Initial investment $100,000.00, Added each month $0.00, Expected return (yearly) 4%, Expense ratio 1%, Years 20 gives Value after fees $179,379.03, Value with no fees $219,112.31, Expenses paid $27,224.98.Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, How Fees and Expenses Affect Your Investment Portfolio: about $179,000 after 20 years with a 1% fee (https://www.investor.gov/sites/default/files/ib_fees_expenses.pdf)
- Initial investment $10,000.00, Added each month $0.00, Expected return (yearly) 5%, Expense ratio 0%, Front-end load 5.75%, Back-end load (when you sell) 0%, Years 1 gives Value after fees $9,896.25, Sales loads paid $575.00, Gain -$103.75.Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses: a front-end load reduces the amount invested (https://www.sec.gov/files/ib_mutualfundfees.pdf)
- Initial investment $10,000.00, Added each month $200.00, Expected return (yearly) 7%, Expense ratio 0.5%, Front-end load 0%, Back-end load (when you sell) 1%, Years 10 gives Value after fees $51,474.59, Money put in $34,000.00, Expenses paid $1,440.29, Sales loads paid $519.95.Source: SEC Investor Bulletin, Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses: expense ratio and deferred sales charges (https://www.sec.gov/files/ib_mutualfundfees.pdf)
How the mutual fund value is worked out
Inputs. Initial investment, an amount added each month (an empty one counts as $0), the expected yearly return R before expenses, the expense ratio E, the years, and optional front-end and back-end loads (empty counts as 0%).
Monthly return. The fund's investments return (1 + R)^(1/12) − 1 a month, so a year compounds to exactly R before expenses.
Start. The initial investment pays the front-end load: value = initial × (1 − front-end load).
Each month, for 12 × years months:
- Return = value × monthly return.
- Expense = (value + return) × E ÷ 12: a twelfth of the expense ratio, taken from the value after the month's return.
- The monthly addition pays the front-end load: load = addition × front-end load.
- New value = value + return − expense + addition − load.
The same money with no fees grows by the same monthly return, with the whole addition invested and no expense.
At the end the back-end load is taken: back-end load = value × back-end rate.
Results.
- Value after fees = the value at the end − the back-end load.
- Money put in = initial investment + addition × 12 × years.
- Gain = value after fees − money put in.
- Expenses paid = every month's expense added up.
- Sales loads paid = the front-end loads on the initial investment and every addition + the back-end load.
- Value with no fees, and what the fees cost you = value with no fees − value after fees (the fees plus the return they would have earned).
Limits. Initial investment from $0 to $1 billion; monthly addition from $0 to $100 million; return from −50% to 50% a year; expense ratio and each load from 0% to 10%; 1 to 60 years.
Display. Money to the cent, rounded half up from the value worked out; nothing is rounded between months.
Assumptions
- The return and the expense ratio stay the same every year; real returns go up and down.
- Additions are made at the end of each month, and each one pays the front-end load.
- Taxes, account fees, 12b-1 fees outside the expense ratio, and load breakpoints are not included. This is an estimate, not investment advice.
Worked examples by hand
The SEC’s example, 1% fee. $100,000, 4% a year, 1% expense ratio, 20 years, no additions or loads. Each year the value grows by 1.04 × (1 − 0.01 ÷ 12)^12 = 1.0296475. After 20 years: 100,000 × 1.0296475^20 = $179,379.03, which the SEC rounds to about $179,000. With no fees it would be 100,000 × 1.04^20 = $219,112.31, so the fee costs $39,733.28. The expenses taken add up to $27,224.98.
A front-end load. $10,000 with a 5.75% front-end load, 5% a year, no expense ratio, 1 year. The load is 10,000 × 0.0575 = $575, so $9,425 is invested, and it grows to 9,425 × 1.05 = $9,896.25: a −$103.75 gain after the first year.
Monthly additions and a back-end load. $10,000 plus $200 a month for 10 years at 7% with a 0.5% expense ratio and a 1% back-end load. Money put in = 10,000 + 200 × 120 = $34,000. Worked month by month, the value before the back-end load is $51,994.54; the 1% back-end load of $519.95 leaves $51,474.59. The expenses add up to $1,440.29.
Other questions people ask
How do mutual fund fees affect my returns?
Fees come out of your money every year, and the money they take can no longer grow. The SEC’s example: $100,000 growing 4% a year is worth about $208,000 after 20 years with a 0.25% yearly fee, about $198,000 with 0.50%, and about $179,000 with 1%. The calculator shows the same comparison for your numbers as “What the fees cost you”.
What is an expense ratio?
The expense ratio is the fund’s total annual operating expenses (management fee, distribution or 12b-1 fees, and other expenses) as a percent of its assets. It is not billed to you: the fund takes it from its assets, so it lowers your return. You find it in the fee table at the front of the prospectus.
What is a front-end load?
A front-end load is a sales charge taken from each purchase. With a 5.75% front-end load, $10,000 buys only $9,425 of fund shares; the other $575 goes to the broker. Many funds lower the load for large purchases (breakpoints); this calculator uses one rate for every purchase.
What is a back-end load?
A back-end load, or deferred sales charge, is taken when you sell. It often falls each year you hold the fund and disappears after several years; enter the rate that will apply when you sell. The calculator takes it as a percent of the value at the end.
What return should I expect from a mutual fund?
No one knows: returns go up and down, and past returns do not predict future ones. The calculator keeps the return you type the same every year so you can compare fees and time; try a lower and a higher return to see a range. It never looks up a fund’s past returns.
How is this different from the index fund calculator?
This page adds front-end and back-end sales loads and compares the fund with the same money and no fees at all. The index fund calculator compares a low-cost index fund with a fund that charges a higher expense ratio.