How to Run Your Own Portfolio Fee Audit in 20 Minutes
Expense ratios and advisory fees are often the single biggest drag on long-term returns, and they're one of the easiest things to check yourself using numbers already sitting in your account statements.
Pull the Numbers You Already Have
Open your most recent account statement or your provider's website and list every fund you hold. Each one has an expense ratio, a percentage charged annually regardless of performance, listed on the fund's fact sheet or prospectus and searchable by ticker on most brokerage sites. If an advisor manages the account, find the advisory fee percentage too, usually shown as an annual rate on your statement or in your agreement. Then check for anything else layered on top: account maintenance fees, platform fees, or a wrap fee that bundles several charges into one number.
Add It Up and Ask What It's Buying You
Add the expense ratios, the advisory fee if one applies, and any account fees into a single all in percentage. Many broad, low cost index funds run well under half a percent on their own, which gives you a rough benchmark to compare against. A higher total isn't automatically a problem. Actively managed funds and full service advisory relationships often cost more, and that can be worth it if you're getting real planning, tax coordination, or a service level that matches the price. The audit isn't about finding the cheapest option, it's about knowing the actual number and deciding whether it earns its keep.
When to Bring In a Professional
If your total comes back meaningfully higher than a simple benchmark and you can't identify what it's paying for, or if you find fees you didn't know existed, that's worth a second opinion rather than a decision made alone. A portfolio review with a matched planner can walk through whether the fee level matches the complexity of your situation, and whether consolidating accounts or changing share classes could lower the number without giving up service you actually value.
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