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Updated July 23, 2026. Quick answer: An advisor fee doesn’t cost what it says — it compounds. On a $500,000 portfolio growing 6% a year, a 1.00% annual fee leaves you with $2,124,231 after 30 years, versus $2,871,745 with no fee: $747,514 of fee drag. Even against a low-cost 0.25% alternative, the 30-year gap is $539,762. Set your own numbers below, see the curves, and copy a link to your exact comparison.
Fast routes: Flat fee vs AUM break-even | AUM fee calculator | How much a financial advisor costs | All calculators
Fee drag calculator
What fee drag is (and why small percentages become big dollars)
Fee drag is the gap between what your portfolio would have grown to and what it actually grows to after fees — and because every dollar taken in fees also stops compounding, the gap grows faster than the fee itself. The percentages look tiny; the dollars are not.
Fee drag at a glance: $500,000 growing 6% a year
| Horizon | Ending value at 1.00%/yr | Ending value at 0.25%/yr | Gap (fee drag) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 years | $809,805 | $873,288 | $63,483 |
| 20 years | $1,311,569 | $1,525,265 | $213,696 |
| 30 years | $2,124,231 | $2,663,993 | $539,762 |
Same model as the calculator above: returns earned first, fee assessed on the year-end balance. A higher fee can absolutely be worth paying — when the advice changes taxes, withdrawals, or behavior by more than the drag. The point is to know the dollar number you’re trading, then decide: compare a percentage quote against a flat quote with the break-even calculator, and see the full fee landscape in how much a financial advisor costs.
Paying for advice? Make the drag earn its keep
A written plan should name what the fee buys — tax moves, withdrawal sequencing, risk decisions — in dollars you can weigh against the drag you just calculated.
Cite or share: the “Copy link” button above produces a URL that reproduces your exact comparison. Free to cite or embed a screenshot with a link to this page — Clear Money Guide, “Fee Drag Calculator,” 2026.
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionFigures verified by recomputing the stated model (returns earned first, fee on the year-end balance) on September 30, 2026; the Form ADV benchmark percentages were not re-checked.
Methodology
This page was materially reviewed on July 23, 2026. The calculator runs entirely in your browser (your inputs are never sent to us) and applies each year’s return before assessing the annual fee on the year-end balance; reference-table figures use the identical model. Returns are illustrative constants, not forecasts; real returns vary and can be negative. Educational only — not personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. See our methodology, Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.
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<p style="font:13px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0">Fee drag calculator: <a href="https://clearmoneyguide.com/fee-drag-calculator/">Clear Money Guide</a></p>What the filings actually say. We measured the fee schedules 176 SEC-registered advisers publish in their Form ADV Part 2A filings: at $250,000 only 28.4% disclose a fee you can price at all, and the weighted median annual cost among those that do is $2,000 to $2,500. The full benchmark, with method.