Investment Fee Drag Calculator

What does an investment fee actually cost you? Enter five numbers and see it in dollars.

Why a small fee costs a large amount

Investment fees are often charged as a small annual percentage of your balance, which can make them easy to overlook. A 1% fee may not sound significant compared with normal market swings.

Over time, however, the impact compounds. Fees reduce your balance each year, and the money paid in fees is no longer available to grow. This calculator shows the long-term difference between two fee levels in dollars.

$
The balance you are paying the fee on today.
How long the money stays invested — often longer than you think, since retirement itself can run thirty years.
%
What the investment earns before the fee is taken out. Change it to whatever you think is reasonable.
%
The fund's expense ratio, plus any advisory fee you pay on top. Both come out of your balance every year.
%
Starts at 0.05%, roughly what a broad low-cost index fund charges. Change it to any figure you want to measure against.

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How far each asset class has drifted from target.
RMD Calculator
This year's required withdrawal from your IRA.

This calculator uses the figures you enter to illustrate the effect of fees. It is not a projection or recommendation. Actual returns vary from year to year, and the results do not account for taxes, inflation, or trading costs. Fees are only one factor to consider when evaluating an investment.