The 20-year race
Every line starts at the same invested amount and earns the same market return. They only diverge because of fees. The shaded wedge is the money the fees take.
The bad years, in real dollars
Investing means real down years. Here's what history's worst did to your invested amount — and the honest other half: markets recovered. The green bar is 2020, which fell about 34% in the spring and still finished the year up.
What “just 1%” really is
A 1% fee sounds tiny. But it's 1% of everything you own, taken from a return of only a few percent — so it eats a big slice of each year's growth.
A 1.00% fee on a 7.0% return is % of that year's growth — handed over every year, up markets and down.
Your safe bucket, growing too
The reachable cash isn't idle. At the savings rate it compounds steadily — no drama, no risk, always there.
Read this — it's not fine print
This is not financial advice. Nothing here is personalized to you — it's a tool to see the math for yourself, with real, current numbers. It doesn't know your job, your debts, your family, or your plans. It can't tell you what to do.
You make the call. The market's future is unknown; every projection here is an assumption you set, compounded forward — not a promise. Past down years are real history, not a forecast. Rates and fees shown reflect mid-2026 and will change.
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