ETF fee calculator
Expense Ratio Calculator
This expense ratio calculator shows what a fund's yearly fee costs you in dollars over 10, 20 or 30 years, including the growth those fees would have earned. Compare two ETFs, mutual funds or fee levels side by side, or type an ETF ticker to fill in the expense ratio GNG has on file.
Free to use. No account or sign-up needed.
Your numbers
$3.00 a year on each $10,000.
$50.00 a year on each $10,000.
The amount you start with.
Added at the end of each month. Use 0 for none.
The same for both funds.
From 1 to 50 years.
Results
You put in $190,000 over 30 years. With no fees the balance would be $660,849.
Over 30 years, Fund B's 0.50% expense ratio costs $60,965 more than Fund A's 0.03%. Fund B pays $32,477 in fees, and the growth those fees would have earned adds $32,617.
Balance by year
Cost over time
Balances are at the end of each year. Fees paid are the running total.
How fees compound
An expense ratio looks small because it is quoted as a yearly rate on your balance, such as 0.03% or 0.50%. The fund takes it a little at a time, every day, and each dollar it takes stays out of your account for good, along with everything that dollar would have earned.
That is why the expense ratio cost over time is larger than the fees alone. Each year you lose that year's fee and the growth on every fee taken before it, and that lost growth compounds like any other return. The gap between a low-cost fund and a higher-cost one widens faster than the years go by.
This investment fee calculator shows the expense ratio impact in two parts: the fees paid to the fund, and the growth lost to fees. Together they make the total cost, which is the gap between your balance and the same plan with no fee at all.
A worked example
Say two funds both return 7% a year before fees, and you invest $10,000 in either one and add $500 a month for 30 years. Fund A is a low-cost index ETF with a 0.03% expense ratio, and Fund B charges 0.50%.
After 10 years Fund A holds $104,997 and Fund B $101,918, a gap of $3,079. After 20 years the gap is $17,395, and after 30 years it reaches $60,965: Fund A ends at $656,720 and Fund B at $595,755.
Fund B pays $32,477 in fees over the 30 years, and the growth those fees would have earned adds $32,617, so its fees cost $65,093 in all, against $4,129 for Fund A. The gap grows faster than the years: going from 10 to 20 years makes it 5.65x as large.
Compare two funds
To compare expense ratios, enter one for Fund A and one for Fund B. For an ETF, type its ticker and press Fill: if GNG has the fund's net expense ratio on file, this ETF expense ratio calculator fills it in. Both funds get the same starting amount, monthly contribution and yearly return before fees, so the fee is the only difference.
The Difference column shows what the cheaper fund keeps that the pricier one spends on fees. To price one fund's fee on its own, as an ETF fee calculator or mutual fund fee calculator would, read its Total cost of fees row.
Funds that track the same index differ mostly in cost, so pairs such as SPY and VOO, or QQQ and QQQM, show what a small gap in fees adds up to. GNG has no expense ratios on file for mutual funds, so type the ratio from the fund's fact sheet to use this as a mutual fund expense ratio calculator, or as a 401(k) expense ratio calculator for the funds in your plan.
Fees are one part of a fund's result. To line up total returns, dividends, volatility and sectors as well, use the ETF comparison tool.
Expense ratios explained
What is an expense ratio? It is the yearly cost of owning a fund, shown as a share of the money invested in it. It pays the management fee, administration, record keeping and the fund's other operating expenses, and an ETF expense ratio works the same way as a mutual fund expense ratio.
The expense ratio formula is the fund's annual operating expenses divided by its average net assets. A fund that spends $3 million a year to run $1 billion has a 0.30% expense ratio, which is $30 a year on each $10,000 invested.
To find a fund's expense ratio, check its fact sheet, its prospectus or the fund company's website. For most ETFs the Fill button does the lookup for you, using the net expense ratio after any fee waivers, the same figure each ETF's GNG page shows.
What the calculator assumes
- Both funds earn the same return every year, before fees. Real returns change from year to year.
- Each month the balance grows at the rate that compounds to the yearly return, then the fund takes one twelfth of its yearly expense ratio. Real funds take the fee daily, and their expense ratios can change.
- Monthly contributions go in at the end of each month.
- There are no taxes, trading costs, bid-ask spreads, sales loads or advisor fees.
- Results are estimates, not a forecast or a promise.
Expense ratio calculator FAQ
- How much does an expense ratio cost over time?
- More than the yearly rate suggests, because each year's fee also removes the growth that money would have earned. On a one-time investment earning 7% a year before fees, a 1% expense ratio leaves about a quarter less after 30 years than no fee would. Try your own numbers above.
- What is a good expense ratio for an ETF?
- There is no single cutoff. Many broad index ETFs charge 0.10% a year or less, while actively managed and specialty ETFs often charge from about 0.35% to more than 1%. The calculator shows what the gap between two funds costs in dollars.
- How do you calculate an expense ratio?
- Divide the fund's yearly operating costs by its average net assets. You rarely need to: every fund lists its expense ratio in its prospectus, and for most ETFs the Fill button above looks it up.
- How is an expense ratio charged?
- You never get a bill. The fund takes a small slice of the yearly rate from its assets every day, which lowers its share price, so the returns funds report are already after the expense ratio. It applies to your whole balance, not only to gains.
- What is the difference between gross and net expense ratio?
- The gross expense ratio is the fund's full yearly cost before any fee waivers. The net expense ratio is what shareholders pay after waivers, which can end on a set date. When you fill in a ticker, this calculator uses the net expense ratio.
- Do ETFs have other fees besides the expense ratio?
- Yes. Trading an ETF can cost a bid-ask spread and, at some brokers, a commission, and advisor or 401(k) plan fees can come on top. This calculator covers the yearly expense ratio.
Test ETF portfolios on real prices and track your own holdings with a free GNG account.
Sign Up FreeThis calculator is for education and is not investment advice. Results are estimates that depend on the numbers you enter. Read our disclosures.