# The fee you cannot see
Author: Anita Desai
Author URL: https://demoatlas.superblog.click/author/anita-desai/
Published: 2026-07-04
Category: Investing
Category URL: https://demoatlas.superblog.click/category/investing/
Meta Title: The fee you cannot see · Atlas
Meta Description: Platform fees, fund fees, spreads and the cost of trading. What a "cheap" portfolio actually costs, and what to do about it.
Tags: investing, fees, platforms
Tag URLs: investing (https://demoatlas.superblog.click/tag/investing/), fees (https://demoatlas.superblog.click/tag/fees/), platforms (https://demoatlas.superblog.click/tag/platforms/)
URL: https://demoatlas.superblog.click/the-fee-you-cannot-see/

![A hand holding a phone with a stock chart on screen](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1607459726451-44808af96022?ixid=M3w3OTAzOTJ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzfHxzdG9jayUyMGNoYXJ0JTIwcGhvbmUlMjBoYW5kfGVufDF8MHx8fDE3ODg2MzU0NDB8MA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop)

The fee printed on the fund is one of at least four. Here are all of them, and how to find the ones that are not printed anywhere.

## The four fees

1. **The fund charge.** The one on the label. Anything from 0.05 percent to over 1 percent a year.
2. **The platform charge.** What the broker charges to hold the fund for you. Either a percentage of the pot or a flat amount a year. A flat fee is cheaper once the pot is above about 50,000; a percentage is cheaper below it.
3. **The spread.** The gap between the buying and selling price. Paid every time you trade, and invisible on a statement.
4. **Trading costs inside the fund.** What the fund pays to buy and sell its own holdings. Not in the headline charge. Found in the fund's costs and charges document, usually on page three.

## What it adds up to

A typical "low cost" portfolio, once all four are counted, costs about 0.4 percent a year. A typical adviser-managed one costs about 1.8 percent. Over thirty years the difference is roughly a third of the final pot.

## What to do

Once a year, add the four numbers up for what you hold. If the total is above half a percent, the next post to read is the one on index funds. If it is below, stop looking at it. Fees matter, and then they are fine.

_Revised in July, after a reader pointed out that the platform fee comparison depended on the size of the pot. It does, and the paragraph now says so._


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