Top 6 Fees That Eat Returns.
Fund Fee. A yearly % taken, up or down.
€10,000, 6% a year before fees, 30 years.
Fee 0.2%: €54,000. Fee 1.5%: €37,000. Minus €17,000.
Trading Commission. A fixed fee hurts small trades most.
The same €5 fee on three trades.
€100 trade: 5%. €1,000 trade: 0.5%. €10,000 trade: 0.05%.
Bar = the fee as a share of the trade.
Currency Exchange. Euros to dollars and back: you pay twice.
€1,000, you start. Buy: minus 0.5%. $, in dollars. Sell: minus 0.5%. €990, you end.
€10 gone, even if prices and the rate never move.
The Spread. Buy at the high price, sell at the low one.
Sell orders €100.20. You buy at €100.10. You sell at €99.90. Buy orders €99.80.
Gap €0.20: 0.2% a round trip.
Wider for small, rarely traded shares.
Account Fee. A monthly fee just for holding.
€10 a month on a €2,000 account.
€10 twelve times. €120 a year = 6% gone.
Small accounts feel this the most.
Taxes on Trades. Some countries add a tax when you trade.
Country, tax, on:
Ireland, 1%, Irish firms over €1bn.
France, 0.4%, French firms over €1bn.
Belgium, 0.35%, residents, buy and sell.
Italy, 0.2%, Italian firms over €500m.
Spain, 0.2%, Spanish firms over €1bn.
Germany, none, no such tax.
2026 rules · on buying only, except Belgium.
redstartjournal.com · Education, not investment advice · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Example fees, rounded.
