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A fee you have never seen might be taking a fifth of your retirement.

One percent a year sounds small. On $10,000 over thirty years it is $18,688, and it never shows up as a bill.

You asked for the fee calculator sheet. It is below, as the slides from the post, then the one move, then the tool the chart points at.

Slide 1 of 7: A fee you have never seen might be taking a fifth of your retirement.Slide 2 of 7: One percent a year, over thirty years, takes almost a fifth of the final balance.Slide 3 of 7: The fee took this much, in pieces small enough that nobody noticed.Slide 4 of 7: The return you see on your statement is already after the fee, so the fee never looks like a loss.Slide 5 of 7: Some managers do earn their fee back in some years, but the fee is certain every year.Slide 6 of 7: Three steps to see what you are paying.Slide 7 of 7: Save this for the next time you open your retirement account.

Three steps to see what you are paying.

  1. 01
    Open the fact sheet for each fund you own.Search the fund name plus the words expense ratio.
  2. 02
    Multiply the ratio by your balance.That is this year's fee, in dollars.
  3. 03
    Compare it to a broad index fund in the same category.If your plan offers one with a lower ratio, that is the move.

The tool this chart points at

A low-fee brokerage

For the IRA, the index fund and the rollover. Broad index funds with expense ratios under 0.1%.

Open it

This link may pay Money in One Chart a referral fee if you open an account. Your price does not change. How that works.

Sources: Arithmetic; assumptions stated on the slide; Difference of the two figures above.

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