Course 9710 lessons

Investment fees and how they eat your returns

A closer look at the quiet cost of investment fees, from expense ratios and sales loads to trading commissions and advisory fees, and how to add them up and bring them down.

Why investment fees look small but aren't

Every investment product, whether it's a mutual fund, a UITF, an ETF, or an advisor managing your money, charges something for the service. These charges are almost always quoted as small-looking percentages, often just 1% or 2% a year, which makes them easy to shrug off compared to the double-digit swings a portfolio can post in a good or bad year.