Fund fees (TER)
The ongoing cost of holding a fund, quoted as a total expense ratio (TER). Small-looking annual fees compound into large sums over an investing lifetime.
A fund's total expense ratio (TER) is the annual percentage it charges to run the fund. A difference that looks tiny in a single year — a fraction of a percent — compounds relentlessly over decades, quietly consuming a meaningful share of an investor's end wealth.
Because cost is one of the few things an investor genuinely controls, low fees are a structural advantage. That is much of why broad, low-cost index funds and ETFs are the default building blocks for a rules-based portfolio.