If you invest for n years and the fee is i%, at the end of the period you will have paid n x i% of the average balance. or, compared to the final amount you wo

If you invest for n years and the fee is i%, at the end of the period you will have paid n x i% of the average balance. or, compared to the final amount you would have had, the amount foregone with compounding is 1 - (1- i) ^ n. a big number. for instance, after 30 years, for every dollar you would have had without fees, at 1% fees you would have 76 cents. (for sufficiently low i, (1- n*i) would be a close approximation, but the fee i is usually not low enough LOL)