oildog:

Good post.  I think the impact is actually even greater.  If you hadn't paid those fund fees, you would have been able to invest the capital and earn the 8% return on all the cash until age 65.  If you include that opportunity cost, you're actually giving up about $4.6M for the 1% ER case. 

On the other hand, very few people manage to save $15K per year or manage to make 8% returns over a long time horizon. From the data I've seen, the numbers are more like a few thousand bucks and 4% (sadly).  Also, it's likely that when you become a millionaire in your 40s you'll be sucked into more "sophisticated" products like hedge funds, where you'll have the privilege of paying more like 4% per year in fees instead!

Best,
Oildog

And let's not forget about the loads some funds charge.

Greg