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Finance & Investment · Mutual Funds & SIP

Expense Ratio & Fee Impact Calculator

See what an expense ratio (TER) or advisory fee really costs: the corpus you'd have at a lower cost versus a higher one, the money lost to fees, and the share of your final wealth that goes to charges — for a lump sum, a monthly SIP, or both.

Your inputs

Quick start — try a typical case

₹ 5 lakh

₹ 10 thousand

years
%

What the portfolio earns before the fund's expenses are taken out.

% a year
% a year

0 = no costs at all; or enter a cheaper fund's expense ratio.

Your result Live

Lost to the Higher Cost

₹29,55,540

20.0% of the ₹1,48,14,626 you'd have at 0% — over 20 years

Corpus at 0% Cost
₹1,48,14,626
Corpus at 1.5% Cost
₹1,18,59,085
Total Invested
₹29,00,000
Net Return After Costs
12.00% vs 10.50%
Cost Difference per Year
1.50% of your money, every year
  • You keep · 80%₹1,18,59,085
  • Lost to the higher cost · 20%₹29,55,540
Corpus over time

An estimate from the assumptions you entered, not a guaranteed outcome.

How this is calculated

Net return = Return before costs − Expense ratio · Fee impact = Corpus(lower cost) − Corpus(higher cost)

Expense ratio (TER)
Annual fund costs, deducted from the NAV every day
Corpus
Lump sum compounded annually + SIP at start of each month (return ÷ 12)

An expense ratio looks small because it's charged on your whole balance every year, not on your gains. Over long periods the gap compounds: 1 % a year can take 15–20 % of your final wealth over 20–25 years. The calculator grows the same money at the two net returns and shows the difference.

Assumptions & sources

  • The return before costs is constant; the expense ratio is subtracted from it each year (net return = gross − TER). Funds' published returns are already after expenses.
  • Lump sum compounds annually; SIPs use the SIP Calculator's conventions (start of month, return ÷ 12).
  • Exit loads, taxes and transaction costs are not included.
  1. 1Total Expense Ratio (TER) of mutual fund schemes — disclosure and limits — SEBI
  2. 2Mutual fund investor education (SIP, lumpsum, risk) — AMFI — Association of Mutual Funds in India
  3. 3Investments (Bodie, Kane & Marcus), chapters on returns, compounding and the time value of money — McGraw-Hill

Calculator ID FIN-FEE-IMPACT-001 · version 1.0.0

Common questions

Is the expense ratio charged on my gains?

No — on your entire investment, every day (as an annual percentage). That's why it compounds into a large amount over time.

Are mutual fund returns shown before or after expenses?

After. A fund's NAV is already net of its expense ratio. Use this calculator to compare two funds or plans that hold the same portfolio at different costs.

What is a reasonable expense ratio?

Index funds and ETFs often cost 0.05–0.5 %; actively managed direct plans roughly 0.5–1.2 %; regular plans add the distributor's commission on top. SEBI caps TER by fund size.