I am 52 and have 15 years left until retirement. Is an ETF savings plan still worth it?

Set Years to 15 and run the numbers with your own monthly savings. TER stands for the ongoing fund costs per year, and I use 0.20% here. With $500 a month, no starting capital and a 7% expected return, you end up with around $153,040, of which $90,000 came out of your own pocket. Over a short term, your monthly savings carry the larger part of the result and compound interest the smaller part.

How much do I need to save each month if I want to have $100,000 in 20 years?

The calculator works forwards, so you approach the target through the monthly savings. At a 7% expected return and 0.20% TER, you need around $202 a month for 20 years. For 15 years it is around $327, for 10 years around $591. Five years less time therefore raise the required amount by around 62%.

My broker deducts 1.5% from every monthly payment as a fee. How do I factor that in?

Enter as monthly savings the amount that actually ends up in the ETF. At 1.5%, only $246.25 of $250 remains. Over 20 years, that gives around $122,180 instead of around $124,040, so around $1,860 less. Of that, you paid $900 in fees. The rest is the return that was missing on these $900.

How much final capital does an ETF savings plan with $200 a month produce?

Without starting capital, with a 7% expected return and 0.20% TER, it is around $33,860 after 10 years, around $99,230 after 20 years and around $225,440 after 30 years. In these three cases you paid in $24,000, $48,000 and $72,000. Between year 20 and year 30 the capital more than doubles, even though you only transfer $24,000 more in these ten years.

How much of the final capital is left after tax?

The calculator shows the development before tax. $5,000 start, $250 a month and 25 years turn into around $215,960, of which around $135,960 is gain. How much of this gain goes to taxes depends on the country you live in, the type of account and when you sell. Some rules tax part of the return every year, others only at the sale. Check the rules where you live, or ask a tax advisor.

Is a lump sum worth it in addition to the monthly savings plan?

Enter the amount as starting capital and compare the line “Final capital after costs”. At a 7% return and 0.20% TER, an extra $10,000 grows to around $51,790 over 25 years, and the final capital in the default case rises from around $215,960 to around $267,760. If you spread the same $10,000 over twelve additional monthly payments, the result in the model is around $1,800 lower. The model assumes a steadily rising price. In reality, the difference depends on when you invest.

How long does it take to reach the first million with an ETF savings plan?

With $500 a month, no starting capital, a 7% expected return and 0.20% TER, you are at around $946,460 after 37 years and at around $1,017,000 after 38 years. In these 38 years you paid in $228,000. With $1,000 a month, you reach the million after 29 years. All amounts are before tax and before inflation.

The calculator shows me $215,960 after 25 years. What is this amount worth in today's money?

Considerably less, because the calculator delivers nominal dollars. At 2% inflation, enter 5% instead of 7% expected return, and you get around $158,480 instead of around $215,960. Over 25 years, inflation in this calculation therefore costs you around $57,480 in purchasing power. The value applies as long as you also raise your monthly savings by the rate of inflation every year.

ETF savings plan calculator: what costs really add up to

By Artur Neumann · Last updated: October 10, 2026

Final capital after costs $215,961.84

Paid in: $80,000.00
Growth: $135,961.84

Final capital without costs: $222,897.63
Cost of the TER: $6,935.80

The TER is deducted from the gross return, here 7.00% minus 0.20% equals 6.80% per year. Broker order fees, spreads and taxes are not included. How gains are taxed depends on the country you live in.

The gray area is the money you paid in. The colored area above it is the growth.

All values are model calculations without guarantee. Rounding differences are possible.

NeumannTerminal

Find the best stocks around the world

NeumannTerminal rates companies from New York to Tokyo by the same rules and shows you why. Try it free for 14 days.

Try NeumannTerminal for free

Example: $10,000 start, $250 a month, 7% return, 0.2% TER

Years	Final capital after costs	Final capital without costs	Cost of the TER	Paid in
10 years	$61,631.25	$62,434.45	$803.20	$40,000.00
20 years	$161,315.17	$165,580.94	$4,265.76	$70,000.00
30 years	$353,773.93	$368,485.70	$14,711.77	$100,000.00
40 years	$725,352.10	$767,630.08	$42,277.98	$130,000.00

What this calculator does

The calculator shows you what your starting capital and your monthly savings turn into in an ETF. It calculates twice, once with the ongoing fund costs and once without. The difference between the two final values appears as a separate line in the result, in dollars instead of percent.

If your target amount is already fixed, ask the question the other way round. With the savings rate calculator, you work out the required monthly amount from the target sum, starting capital and term. You can enter any target amount of your own there. Here you then check how different ongoing costs change the final capital.

How I calculate it

I use the values preset in the calculator: $5,000 starting capital, $250 monthly savings, a 7% expected annual return, a 25-year term and a TER of 0.20%.

Step 1: Deduct the TER from the return. TER stands for total expense ratio, the ongoing costs of the fund per year. The fund company takes them from the fund’s assets. No booking for this appears in your account, the share price is simply a little lower. A 7% gross return and 0.20% TER therefore become a 6.80% net return.

Step 2: Convert the annual return into a monthly rate. 6.80% a year is not 0.5667% a month. Because of compounding, twelve months at 0.5667% each give 7.02% a year, which is more than you entered. That is why I convert geometrically. 6.80% a year becomes 0.5497% a month, and twelve such months give exactly 6.80% again.

Step 3: Apply the return to the capital, then add the monthly savings. In the first month, the $5,000 grows by 0.5497%. That is $27.49. At the end of the month, $250 is added. You are at $5,277.49.

Step 4: Repeat 300 times. In the second month, the return is earned on the new balance, no longer on the original starting capital. That is exactly what compound interest is. After 25 years, that is 300 months, you are at around $215,960. Of that, you paid in $80,000, namely $5,000 at the start plus 300 times $250.

Step 5: Run the same calculation again without costs. In parallel, the same process runs with the full 7%. The result is around $222,900. The difference of around $6,940 is what the TER of 0.20% has cost you over 25 years.

What 0.60 percentage points add up to over 25 years

A broadly diversified world ETF today often has a TER of 0.20%. For an actively managed fund in the same category, 0.80% is not unusual. Enter both values one after the other and leave everything else the same.

At 0.20% TER, around $215,960 is in your account after 25 years. At 0.80% it is around $196,560. The gap is around $19,400. That is almost a quarter of everything you paid in over these 25 years.

Over 30 years the gap grows considerably. Around $317,790 at 0.20% becomes around $282,990 at 0.80%. The difference is then around $34,800. Five more years of term therefore raise the cost difference by around 79%, even though the percentage stayed the same.

Why the cost effect is larger than the fee

The TER is not charged on your monthly savings. It is charged every year on your entire fund assets. At the start these assets are small, at the end they are large. Most of the costs therefore arise in the last years, exactly when your portfolio is worth the most.

There is a second effect. Every dollar the fund company takes out is permanently missing from your portfolio afterwards. It no longer earns a return, and later the compound interest on this missing return is missing as well. At 0.80% TER, the cost of the TER adds up to around $47,440 over 30 years. You paid in $95,000 during this time. So the costs eat around half of what you transferred yourself. Measured against the final capital without costs, it is a good 14%.

At 0.20% TER, the cost of the TER over the same 30 years stays at around $12,630, just under 4% of the final capital without costs. You can find the same compound interest mechanism without the cost line in the compound interest calculator.

What is often overlooked

The TER is not the whole cost block. It contains the fund’s management fee, but neither the transaction costs inside the fund nor your broker’s order fees nor the spread when you buy, the gap between the buying price and the selling price on the exchange. How far an ETF really lags behind its index in the end is shown by the tracking difference. It can turn out smaller than the TER, for example if the fund earns income from securities lending or reclaims withholding taxes.

Taxes are missing from this calculation. The figures are before taxes. How fund income and price gains are taxed depends on the country you live in. Depending on the rules, tax can be due every year, even on an accumulating ETF that pays out nothing, or only when you sell. Check the rules where you live, or ask a tax advisor.

The return is an assumption, the TER is a fact. Nobody knows in advance whether your ETF will return 4% or 8% a year on average. In the example above, the final capital is around $136,430 at 4% and around $253,220 at 8%. This range is much larger than any cost difference. The TER, by contrast, is stated in the key information document and applies from the first day.

Purchasing power is something different from your account balance. The calculator delivers nominal amounts. If you want to think in today’s purchasing power, subtract the expected inflation from the return assumption and use the difference.

An existing mortgage changes the comparison. Then it is no longer just ETF against doing nothing. It is an uncertain market return against loan interest saved with certainty. The overpay-mortgage-or-invest calculator compares both paths with the same available amount and the same period.

How to use the calculator sensibly

Calculate three versions instead of one. With $5,000 start, $250 a month, 0.20% TER and 25 years, you get around $136,430 at 4%, around $184,710 at 6% and around $253,220 at 8%. This range shows you how strongly the result depends on an assumption nobody knows.

Then turn the two levers that really belong to you. At 0.80% TER and $250 a month, you end up with around $196,560 after 25 years. If you raise the monthly savings to $300, it is around $231,370, so around $34,810 more. Switching to an ETF with 0.20% TER brings around $19,400 at the same monthly savings. Both work, but in this example the monthly savings carry more weight.

Both together have the strongest effect, and both are in your hands. The return, on the other hand, is delivered by the market. When your portfolio reaches a fixed target amount is shown by the millionaire calculator. If you want to know how long your capital will last later, continue in the retirement withdrawal calculator. The guide Live off your investments connects your savings goal and withdrawals with your complete spending, taxes, insurance contributions and later income.

Frequently asked questions

I am 52 and have 15 years left until retirement. Is an ETF savings plan still worth it?: Set Years to 15 and run the numbers with your own monthly savings. TER stands for the ongoing fund costs per year, and I use 0.20% here. With $500 a month, no starting capital and a 7% expected return, you end up with around $153,040, of which $90,000 came out of your own pocket. Over a short term, your monthly savings carry the larger part of the result and compound interest the smaller part.
How much do I need to save each month if I want to have $100,000 in 20 years?: The calculator works forwards, so you approach the target through the monthly savings. At a 7% expected return and 0.20% TER, you need around $202 a month for 20 years. For 15 years it is around $327, for 10 years around $591. Five years less time therefore raise the required amount by around 62%.
My broker deducts 1.5% from every monthly payment as a fee. How do I factor that in?: Enter as monthly savings the amount that actually ends up in the ETF. At 1.5%, only $246.25 of $250 remains. Over 20 years, that gives around $122,180 instead of around $124,040, so around $1,860 less. Of that, you paid $900 in fees. The rest is the return that was missing on these $900.
How much final capital does an ETF savings plan with $200 a month produce?: Without starting capital, with a 7% expected return and 0.20% TER, it is around $33,860 after 10 years, around $99,230 after 20 years and around $225,440 after 30 years. In these three cases you paid in $24,000, $48,000 and $72,000. Between year 20 and year 30 the capital more than doubles, even though you only transfer $24,000 more in these ten years.
How much of the final capital is left after tax?: The calculator shows the development before tax. $5,000 start, $250 a month and 25 years turn into around $215,960, of which around $135,960 is gain. How much of this gain goes to taxes depends on the country you live in, the type of account and when you sell. Some rules tax part of the return every year, others only at the sale. Check the rules where you live, or ask a tax advisor.
Is a lump sum worth it in addition to the monthly savings plan?: Enter the amount as starting capital and compare the line “Final capital after costs”. At a 7% return and 0.20% TER, an extra $10,000 grows to around $51,790 over 25 years, and the final capital in the default case rises from around $215,960 to around $267,760. If you spread the same $10,000 over twelve additional monthly payments, the result in the model is around $1,800 lower. The model assumes a steadily rising price. In reality, the difference depends on when you invest.
How long does it take to reach the first million with an ETF savings plan?: With $500 a month, no starting capital, a 7% expected return and 0.20% TER, you are at around $946,460 after 37 years and at around $1,017,000 after 38 years. In these 38 years you paid in $228,000. With $1,000 a month, you reach the million after 29 years. All amounts are before tax and before inflation.
The calculator shows me $215,960 after 25 years. What is this amount worth in today's money?: Considerably less, because the calculator delivers nominal dollars. At 2% inflation, enter 5% instead of 7% expected return, and you get around $158,480 instead of around $215,960. Over 25 years, inflation in this calculation therefore costs you around $57,480 in purchasing power. The value applies as long as you also raise your monthly savings by the rate of inflation every year.

Model calculation based on your inputs. Not investment, tax or legal advice and no promise of future performance. Check with a tax advisor whether something fits your situation. Full disclaimer.