Calculate how much your super fees cost you over time and see the true impact on your retirement savings.
Updated October 2026Built and checked by MaverickHow it's calculatedReport an error
Balance at retirement
$2,551,501
after 37 years of fees
Without fees
$3,400,076
hypothetical zero-fee
Total fees paid
$294,602
25.0% of balance
Insurance paid
$13,320
from super over time
The compounding gap between the two lines is the real cost of fees: every dollar of fee compounds for the years it's not in your account.
Investment fees usually make up most of it, because they're a percentage of a balance that keeps growing.
What your balance would pay in a year at each total fee rate. Fees come out every year, so a small gap compounds over decades.
Super fees look small as a percentage, but they come out every year for 30 or 40 years, on a balance that keeps growing. This turns your fund's fees into dollars, this year and over your working life, so you can see what you're actually paying.
Across 50 MySuper products, the typical return over the ten years to 30 June 2026 was 8.0% a year after fees and tax, and the typical fee on a $50,000 balance was $408 a year, from APRA's data.
Jake, 30, has $60,000 in super with a fund charging 1.2% in total fees + $100 admin fee.
Over 37 years to retirement, Jake will pay approximately $185,000 in total fees. Switching to a 0.5% fee fund could save him $110,000: enough for 2+ extra years of retirement income.
Priya, 35, pays $80/month in insurance premiums from her super without realising it.
That's $960/year. Over 32 years, accounting for lost investment returns, the insurance premiums cost Priya approximately $65,000 in retirement savings. She should review if she needs all that cover.