2 guides
Investing
The arithmetic of growth rather than the selection of investments. What a fee measured in tenths of a percent removes from a thirty-year balance, and whether the timing of deploying a lump sum matters as much as it feels like it should.
May 22, 2026 · 8 min read
A 1% Fund Fee Takes 17.7% of Your Final Balance
One percent sounds like a rounding error next to a 7% return. Over thirty years it removes $107,727 from a $609,985 balance, because the fee compounds against you exactly as the returns compound for you.
May 8, 2026 · 7 min readInvesting $60,000 at Once Beats Spreading It Out by $884
Dollar-cost averaging a windfall costs money on average, because the cash waiting to be invested earns less than the market it is waiting for. The gap is smaller than most people assume, and that is the actual argument for doing it anyway.
Calculators for investing
Investment CalculatorProject the growth of a starting balance plus regular monthly contributions at your expected annual return, with a year-by-year table.Mutual Fund CalculatorProject a mutual fund investment's growth and see how much the expense ratio costs you over time.Compound Interest CalculatorSee how a lump sum grows with compound interest at any compounding frequency, and what the effective annual yield really is.Future Value CalculatorProject what a present amount plus optional yearly contributions will grow to at a fixed annual rate.Average Return CalculatorCompute the arithmetic and true compounded (geometric) average of a series of annual returns.