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What 1% of expense ratio costs over 20 years

₹10,000 a month for 20 years, 12% a year before costs: ₹93.4 lakh at a 0.5% expense ratio, ₹81.76 lakh at 1.5%. The difference is ₹11.64 lakh, 12.5% of the corpus, on ₹24 lakh invested.

Published 17 Oct 2026. Every figure is computed by the expense ratio calculator’s own engine when the page is built.

Why a small percentage becomes a large sum

A fund’s expense ratio is taken out of its assets every day, so it comes off the return rather than arriving as a bill. A 12% portfolio becomes 11.5% after a 0.5% expense ratio, or 10.5% after 1.5%. Because the cost comes off the return, it compounds with it: each year the gap grows on everything already lost.

The two rates here are an example of the difference between a scheme’s direct and regular plans, which hold the same portfolio; the regular plan’s expense ratio includes the distributor’s commission. Whether a distributor’s service is worth that is a choice this page does not make for anyone, and it names no fund.

The same SIP at two expense ratios

₹10,000 a month at 12% before costs
  • Expense ratio 0.5%
  • Expense ratio 1.5%
₹0₹1.0Cr₹2.0Cr₹3.0Cr₹4.0Cr051015202530Years0.5%1.5%Expense ratio 0.5%, 0: ₹0Expense ratio 0.5%, 5: ₹8.1LExpense ratio 0.5%, 10: ₹22.6LExpense ratio 0.5%, 15: ₹48.1LExpense ratio 0.5%, 20: ₹93.4LExpense ratio 0.5%, 25: ₹1.7CrExpense ratio 0.5%, 30: ₹3.2CrExpense ratio 1.5%, 0: ₹0Expense ratio 1.5%, 5: ₹7.9LExpense ratio 1.5%, 10: ₹21.3LExpense ratio 1.5%, 15: ₹43.8LExpense ratio 1.5%, 20: ₹81.8LExpense ratio 1.5%, 25: ₹1.5CrExpense ratio 1.5%, 30: ₹2.5Cr
Show the figures as a table
YearsExpense ratio 0.5%Expense ratio 1.5%
0₹0₹0
5₹8.1L₹7.9L
10₹22.6L₹21.3L
15₹48.1L₹43.8L
20₹93.4L₹81.8L
25₹1.7Cr₹1.5Cr
30₹3.2Cr₹2.5Cr

The cost by how long you stay invested

YearsSIP of ₹10,000/month: costShare of corpus₹10.0L once: costShare of corpus
5₹22,0162.7%₹75,9074.4%
10₹1,28,8475.7%₹2,55,8668.6%
15₹4,32,5529.0%₹6,46,96412.6%
20₹11,63,69812.5%₹14,54,34916.5%
25₹27,84,83216.0%₹30,65,50420.2%
30₹62,06,64919.6%₹62,04,10923.7%

Each amount opens the calculator with those inputs. A lumpsum loses a larger share than a SIP over the same years, because all of it is invested, and paying the cost, from the first day.

Does the assumed return change the answer?

Less than you might think. Over 20 years, the 1% gap takes 11.5% of a SIP’s corpus at 8%, 12.0% of a SIP’s corpus at 10%, 12.5% of a SIP’s corpus at 12% and 12.9% of a SIP’s corpus at 14%: roughly the same share whatever the market does, because it is a fixed slice of every year’s return.

What this leaves out

Tax, exit loads and the fund’s own trading costs are not included, and a scheme’s expense ratio can change over time. The method is on the methodology page.

Your own figures: expense ratio calculator