A walkthrough, end to end.
- 1
Enter the initial investment, monthly contribution, gross expected return, expense ratio, and any front-end load.
- 2
The calculator returns the future value with and without fees, and the cumulative cost of fees in dollars.
- 3
Compare across funds — even small expense ratio differences compound massively over decades.
Net return = gross − expense ratio
Each year's effective return is reduced by the expense ratio. With a front-end load, the initial investment is reduced by the load percentage before any growth. Total fees over time = (FV without fees) − (FV with fees).
What you can do with this.
Index fund vs. actively-managed
Vanguard VOO: 0.03% expense ratio. Active fund: 0.85% average. On a $100K investment over 30 years at 7% gross, the fee difference compounds to ~$200K in lost returns. Index funds dominate.
Front-end load (A-shares)
Front-end load (3–5.75%) is taken off the top — $10K invested in 5% load A-shares = $9,500 invested; $500 to broker. Crippling for long-term wealth — index funds avoid this entirely.
12b-1 fees (back-end loads)
Some funds charge ongoing 12b-1 fees (0.25–1% annually) on top of expense ratio. Often hidden in the prospectus. Add to expense ratio when comparing.
Bogleheads three-fund portfolio
Total US (VTI), Total International (VXUS), Total Bond (BND). Combined expense ratio ~0.04%. Beats 90%+ of actively-managed portfolios over 20+ years on average — and the calculator helps you see why.
401(k) fund choice
Some 401(k) plans only offer expensive funds (1%+ expense ratio). Use this calculator to quantify the cost. If significant, max the match and put excess in IRA where you can pick low-cost funds.
Target-date funds
Vanguard target-date 2050: 0.08% expense ratio. Many corporate target-dates are 0.5–1%+. Run both through the calculator — the difference can be tens of thousands over a career.
ETF vs. mutual fund
ETFs typically have lower expense ratios than mutual funds (often by 0.05–0.20%) and trade like stocks. For most retail investors, ETFs are the cleaner choice for low-cost passive investing.
Mutual fund 2026 — what's current
Average expense ratio across all mutual funds is ~0.40% (down from 1%+ historically) thanks to passive investing's dominance. Best practice: anything above 0.20% needs strong justification; over 0.50% is hard to defend in 2026.
Frequently asked.
Below 0.10% is excellent (Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity index funds). 0.10–0.50% is acceptable for specialized strategies. Above 0.50% needs to outperform a low-cost benchmark by that much annually — most don't.
For taxable accounts, yes — funds distribute taxable gains annually whether you sell or not. Index funds and ETFs are more tax-efficient than active mutual funds. The calculator gives pre-tax projections.
Required by SEC. Look in the fund's prospectus or any major financial data site (Morningstar, Yahoo Finance). The number is small but compounding makes it consequential.
No. Calculations run entirely in your browser.