Why should I check a fund's expense ratio before buying it?

The expense ratio is the annual percentage a fund charges to run itself, deducted automatically from your returns, and it's one of the few things about investing you can control. The difference looks tiny but compounds painfully: a fund charging 1.0% versus one charging 0.05% on a $100,000 balance costs roughly $950 more every year, and over decades that gap can quietly erase a six-figure chunk of your wealth. Broad index funds today often charge between 0.03% and 0.10%, while many actively managed funds charge 0.5% to 1% or more without reliably beating the index. Always look up the expense ratio before buying and favor low-cost, broadly diversified funds. Lower fees are a near-guaranteed way to keep more of your return — see the long-term drag for yourself with our opportunity-cost tool at wealthserene.com/tools/opportunity-cost.