BYTETOOLS

Expense Ratio Calculator

See what a fund's expense ratio costs over time: fees paid each year, the lost compound growth, the ending-value gap and a side-by-side cheaper fund.

$179,911
Ending value after fees
$219,112
Ending value with no fee
$27,352
Fees paid
$39,201
Total cost of the fee

What the fee actually costs

Money you put in$100,000
Fees actually charged$27,352
Growth those fees would have earned$11,849
Total shortfall against a fee-free fund$39,201
Share of your fee-free wealth lost to fees17.89%
Ending value at 0.05% instead$216,973
Difference between the two funds$37,062

Year by year

YearFee that yearFees so farBalance after feesBalance with no fee
1$1,020.00$1,020.00$102,980$104,000
2$1,050.40$2,070.40$106,049$108,160
3$1,081.70$3,152.09$109,209$112,486
4$1,113.93$4,266.03$112,463$116,986
5$1,147.13$5,413.15$115,815$121,665
6$1,181.31$6,594.47$119,266$126,532
7$1,216.52$7,810.98$122,820$131,593
8$1,252.77$9,063.75$126,480$136,857
9$1,290.10$10,353.85$130,249$142,331
10$1,328.54$11,682.39$134,131$148,024
11$1,368.14$13,050.53$138,128$153,945
12$1,408.91$14,459.43$142,244$160,103
13$1,450.89$15,910.32$146,483$166,507
14$1,494.13$17,404.45$150,848$173,168
15$1,538.65$18,943.10$155,344$180,094
16$1,584.50$20,527.61$159,973$187,298
17$1,631.72$22,159.33$164,740$194,790
18$1,680.35$23,839.68$169,649$202,582
19$1,730.42$25,570.10$174,705$210,685
20$1,781.99$27,352.09$179,911$219,112

Each year the balance grows at the gross return, then the expense ratio is charged on the average balance for that year. Worked check against the SEC investor bulletin on fees: $100,000 growing at 4% for 20 years ends at about $180,000 with a 1% expense ratio, $198,000 at 0.5% and $209,000 at 0.25%, against $219,112 with no fee at all. Trading costs, loads and taxes are not included. Arithmetic only, not investment advice.

What is the Expense Ratio Calculator?

The ByteTools Expense Ratio Calculator shows the real cost of a fund fee, which is always larger than the fee itself.

  • Fee charged on the average balance each year, not just the opening balance
  • Separates fees actually paid from the compound growth they cost you
  • Head-to-head comparison against a second, cheaper expense ratio
  • Fee drag shown as a share of the wealth you would have had fee-free
  • Annual contributions supported for pension and ISA-style plans
  • Runs offline in your browser; nothing is uploaded

How to use the Expense Ratio Calculator

  1. 1

    Enter your starting balance and anything you add each year.

  2. 2

    Set the gross annual return you expect before fees.

  3. 3

    Enter the expense ratio of the fund you are checking, and a second one to compare it against.

  4. 4

    Choose how many years you plan to stay invested.

  5. 5

    Read the ending values and fee totals in the tiles, then open the year-by-year table for the detail.

About the Expense Ratio Calculator

The ByteTools Expense Ratio Calculator shows the real cost of a fund fee, which is always larger than the fee itself. It grows your balance at the gross return, charges the expense ratio on the average balance every year, and reports the fees actually taken alongside the growth those fees would have earned had they stayed invested.

Enter a second expense ratio to compare two funds directly — an index fund against an active one, for example — and the tool shows the ending value of each and the gap between them. Annual contributions are supported, so a workplace pension or an ongoing investing plan can be modelled properly.

Everything runs locally in your browser with nothing uploaded, so real balances are safe to enter. Figures assume a steady return and ignore trading costs, loads and taxes; they are estimates for comparison, not investment advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is a fund expense ratio?

It is the annual percentage a fund charges to run itself, deducted from the fund's assets rather than billed to you. A 0.5% expense ratio on a $100,000 holding costs about $500 a year, taken quietly out of the fund's daily value.

How much does a 1% expense ratio really cost?

Far more than 1%. Following the SEC's own worked example, $100,000 growing at 4% a year for 20 years ends near $180,000 with a 1% expense ratio but $219,000 with no fee at all — roughly 18% of the final balance gone, because every fee taken also stops compounding.

Is a lower expense ratio always better?

For two funds tracking the same thing, yes — cost is one of the few reliable predictors of relative return. Comparing funds with different strategies is harder, but the fee is still the one number you know in advance, which is why it is worth minimising.

What counts as a good expense ratio?

Broad index funds and ETFs commonly sit between 0.03% and 0.20%, while actively managed funds often charge 0.5% to 1.5%. Anything above 1% needs to justify itself with performance you can verify over a long period.

Does this include platform fees or trading costs?

No. It models the fund's stated expense ratio only. Platform or wrapper fees, bid-ask spreads, transaction costs and taxes all sit on top, so add them to the ratio if you want a complete picture.

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