A small annual fee difference can become a much larger difference in your final investment value. Compare two expense ratios while keeping the money invested, the timing and the underlying return identical.
What if there were no fund expenses?
The hypothetical zero-expense value is .
Compared with that value, Plan A finishes lower and Plan B lower. These are wealth differences including lost growth, not the sum of fees charged.
See the year-by-year difference
| Year | Plan A | Plan B | Value gap |
|---|
Try a lower or higher underlying return
| Gross annual return | Value gap |
|---|
Example expense ratios are illustrative, not quotes for any scheme. This calculator does not submit or save the numbers you enter.
Use the same scheme for a clean comparison
To isolate the cost of a direct plan versus a regular plan, compare the two plans of the same scheme and the same option. Comparing unrelated funds introduces different portfolios and risks that this calculator does not model. Read Direct or Regular: What a Small Fund Fee Costs Over Twenty Years for the worked example and the practical checks.
Do not count the fee twice
Published NAV-based returns already reflect fund expenses. The return box here asks for an assumed return before those expenses. The model subtracts each expense ratio from that assumption. Entering a historical published return and subtracting the expense ratio again would understate the result. Scheme disclosures illustrate the difference between gross returns and returns after expenses.
Find comparable expense figures
Use the latest disclosure from the fund house or AMFI’s expense-ratio disclosures. Check the date and whether the figure is the base expense ratio or total expense ratio. Compare total with total, rather than mixing cost measures. Expense ratios can change; this calculator holds the entered rates fixed.
How the calculator works
For each plan, the approximate net annual return is the gross return assumption minus its annual expense ratio. That effective annual rate is converted to a monthly growth factor. The starting investment grows from day one; monthly investments are added at month-end. The annual table compares the same cash contributions in both plans.
This is a simplified compounding model. Actual expenses accrue within the scheme, returns fluctuate and costs vary. The zero-expense comparison measures the reduction in final wealth, including the growth that forgone money could have earned. It does not measure the actual rupees debited as expenses.
What is outside this comparison
Investor tax, redemption or switching costs, stamp duty on purchases, external platform charges and separate adviser fees are not modelled. This is not a calculation of whether to switch an existing holding. Choosing a cheaper plan and selling existing units are separate decisions.
Use the SIP calculator for a general investment projection, or the step-up SIP calculator if you expect to raise your monthly investment.
This calculator is for education, not a forecast or personal investment advice. Lower expenses do not make an unsuitable investment suitable. Mutual fund values can fall. For advice about your circumstances, consult a SEBI-registered investment adviser.