ETF fee calculator
Compare two ETFs with different fees on the same investment plan and watch the gap compound. A few hundredths of a percent look harmless until you see them side by side over decades.
| Year | Low-fee ETF | High-fee ETF | Difference |
|---|
How to use this calculator
- Initial investment and monthly contribution describe your plan; both ETFs get exactly the same money. The math is the same in any currency, so the symbol is just a label for your own numbers.
- Expected annual return is what the index delivers before costs. Both funds track the same market here, so the only difference between them is the fee.
- Low-fee and high-fee TER are the total expense ratios from the two factsheets you are comparing. The defaults, 0.03% against 0.30%, reflect a cheap core index ETF against a typical mid-priced fund.
- Time period is where the gap compounds: the difference roughly doubles every decade you stay invested.
What the default comparison shows
With €100,000 upfront plus €1,000 a month at 8% before costs over 30 years, the 0.03% ETF grows to €2,565,154 while the 0.30% ETF reaches €2,402,687. Same index, same deposits, and the cheaper fund finishes €162,466 ahead. The year-by-year table above shows the gap starting near zero and accelerating, because every euro the fee removes also stops compounding for you.
What counts as a low fee
Broad index ETFs in Europe now charge between 0.03% and 0.25%, so anything near the bottom of that range is competitive. Actively managed funds often charge 1% or more; set the high-fee slider there to see what a manager would need to overcome. The TER is also not the whole story, since tracking difference, spreads and broker commissions add their own drag, so treat the gap here as the floor of the true difference.
How to act on the result
When two funds track the same index, the cheaper share class usually wins by roughly its fee advantage, year after year. If you are comparing S&P 500 trackers, our guide to the best S&P 500 UCITS ETFs for European investors puts the TER differences alongside income treatment, ISINs and trading currencies. Our ETF investing guide for European investors covers how to read a factsheet and pick UCITS funds, and the compound interest calculator shows the same compounding working for you instead of against you.
Both funds are modelled on the same gross return with the TER deducted as a constant annual drag, compounded monthly, before taxes. Real returns vary and are not guaranteed. This is an illustration for education only, not financial advice, and your capital is at risk when investing.