{"version":"2026-investor-fee-drag","name":"SwitchWize Investor Fee Drag","snapshotDate":"2026","citeAs":"SwitchWize, \"The Investor Fee Drag Report: What Fees Cost You (2026).\" Retrieved 2026.","sourcePage":"https://www.switchwize.com/learn/investor-fee-drag-2026","assumptions":{"principalUsd":100000,"years":40,"grossAnnualReturnPct":7},"scenarios":[{"label":"Index fund","feePct":0.05,"endingValueUsd":1469710},{"label":"Average fund","feePct":0.55,"endingValueUsd":1218503},{"label":"Fund + advisor","feePct":1.05,"endingValueUsd":1009342}],"headline":{"lifetimeCostOf1PctFeeUsd":460368,"lifetimeCostOf1PctFeePctOfPortfolio":31,"investorsWhoBelieveTheyPayNoFeesPct":21,"averageEquityFundExpenseRatioPct":0.4},"sources":[{"label":"FINRA","detail":"Share of investors unaware they pay fees.","url":"https://www.finra.org/investors/investing/investing-basics/fees-commissions"},{"label":"Investment Company Institute","detail":"2025 average fund expense ratios.","url":"https://www.ici.org/news-release/mutual-fund-and-etf-fees-remained-near-historic-lows-in-2025"},{"label":"SwitchWize calculation","detail":"Compounding math on the stated assumptions."}],"methodology":{"summary":"A fee compounds against a portfolio every year, so a 1% annual fee erases far more than 1% of the ending value over a long horizon, roughly a quarter to a third.","caveat":"A 7% gross return is a long-run assumption, not a guarantee; real returns and fees vary."}}