Investment Return After Fees Calculator

7% gross return minus 1.5% total fees leaves 5.5% net. Over 30 years on 100,000 that is a gross outcome of 761,000 against a net of 498,000, so fees take 263,000, or 35% of the gross figure. Small-sounding annual charges compound into large long-term costs.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using gross return of 7%, total fee of 1.5%, principal of 100,000, years of 30, the calculation works out to 5.50%. These example values are a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

Net Return is a subtraction, so Gross Return % moves it by exactly one point per point and Total Fee % moves it one point in the opposite direction. Neither carries more weight than the other. Principal and Years do not enter the headline figure at all: they drive the supporting rows, where the gap between the gross and net future values widens with both. That is where the charge actually bites. At the defaults a 1.5% fee costs 263,000 across 30 years on a 100,000 start, which is 35% of the gross outcome.

How the math works

The net return is the gross return minus the total fee, in percentage points. The tool then compounds the principal at both rates across the term and reports each future value, so the fee drag in the supporting rows is the difference between two compounded figures rather than the annual fee multiplied by the number of years. That difference grows faster than the term does, because the charge comes off a balance that is itself compounding.

What this doesn't capture

This is a simplified model that holds its assumptions constant. Real outcomes vary with market conditions, costs, taxes, and timing, so the figure is best read as one scenario rather than a forecast.

Worked example

Suppose you invest 250,000 in a portfolio expected to return 6% gross per year. Your total annual fees are 0.8%. Your net return is therefore 5.2% per year.

• After 10 years: gross outcome 447,712 | net outcome 415,047 | fees cost you 32,665
• After 20 years: gross outcome 801,784 | net outcome 689,056 | fees cost you 112,727
• After 30 years: gross outcome 1,435,873 | net outcome 1,143,964 | fees cost you 291,909

The same 0.8% fee takes on different absolute weight as time and compounding accumulate.

Common scenarios

This calculator covers scenarios such as:

• Comparing investment accounts or strategies with different fee structures
• Testing how a 0.5% difference in annual costs affects a 20 or 30-year horizon
• Understanding the trade-off between active management (higher fees, uncertain returns) and passive strategies (lower fees, market-tracking returns)
• Modelling the impact of fees on your portfolio during planning stages

What the result shows and doesn't show

The calculator shows the arithmetic gap between gross and net compounding. It does not show whether your gross return assumption is realistic, whether fees will remain constant, or how actual year-to-year ups and downs might change your result. It treats returns as steady; markets do not.

For learning and illustration only

This calculation is educational and illustrative in character. It models a single scenario with fixed inputs and does not account for tax, regulation, inflation, or changes in fee structure over time. Use it to understand the mechanics of fee drag, not as a basis for financial planning without professional input.