What Should You Pay for Financial Services? 9 Answers

What they cost: On average, 0.12% of assets per year for equity funds and 0.11% for bond funds.
Why: Index funds are so much cheaper because they dispense with hiring a professional to manage the portfolios. Index funds invest in a set, broad range of bonds or stocks, such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.