Investment Fee Impact Calculator
Illustrate how an annual investment fee can reduce ending wealth relative to the same gross return without fees. Returns and fee impact are hypothetical under a simplified model — not predictions of actual fund performance.
Your results will appear here
Enter your assumptions and calculate to see the estimated result and supporting details.
How this calculator works
Enter initial investment, monthly contribution, gross annual return, annual fee percentage, and years.
Results compare ending value without fees vs after fees, estimate value lost to fees, and show an annual comparison chart and table.
Formula / methodology
netReturn = (1 + grossReturn) × (1 − feeRate) − 1 Both scenarios use the same end-of-month contribution schedule
- The engine uses the multiplicative fee model above — not the approximation net ≈ gross − fee.
- Gross return is an effective annual return before fees.
- Real expense ratios and deduction timing vary; actual fund performance may differ.
Worked example
With a 0% fee, ending balances match and fee impact is $0.
A 7% gross return with a 1% fee implies a net effective annual return of (1.07 × 0.99) − 1 = 5.93%.
Important assumptions
- Gross annual return is hypothetical and effective (before fees).
- Annual fee is modeled as a proportional charge on assets once per year in the effective-rate identity.
- Monthly contributions occur at the end of each month in both scenarios.
- This model does not predict actual fund returns or fee schedules.
Common questions
Subtracting is an approximation. This calculator uses net = (1+gross)×(1−fee)−1 so the fee scales invested assets.
Without-fee and after-fee balances match and estimated value lost to fees is $0.
Not always. Accrual and deduction timing vary. Treat this as a transparent educational model.