File:Highcost-lowcost.jpg

This graph shows the investment growth of both a low-cost and a typical high-cost fund.

Both funds assume an initial $10,000 investment and 8% annual growth. The time period is 30 years. The low-cost fund is no-load and has expenses of 0.2% per year. The high-cost fund has an initial 5.75% sales load, expenses of 2.0% per year, and a 0.25% 12b-1 fee.

The high-cost fund's initial value is $9,425.00 (10,000 - 5.75%). With annual expenses of 2.25% (growth of 5.75% = 8.00% - 2.0% - 0.25%), the resulting fund value at year 30 is $50,430.

The low-cost fund's initial value is: $10,000. With annual expenses of 0.2% (growth of 7.8% = 8.0 % - 0.20%), the resulting fund value at year 30 is $95,184.

The difference between these funds over 30 years is $44,753.

The LibreOffice Spreadsheet used to create this figure is available as a free download in Google Docs: Cost comparisons.ods