Educational material from 
What you will learn
- Account for every fee at the time it is paid.
- Distinguish the shares’ price increase from the whole portfolio’s result.
- Calculate break-even including purchase and sale fees.
Session plan: keep shares and prices the same
Allow five minutes for the conditions, fifteen for the cash journal, ten for comparison and five for the exit question. Students need a calculator and paper. The activity uses a fictional flat fee of SEK 20 per order. It is neither a current broker tariff nor a statement about Investiq’s fee model.
Both groups start with SEK 2,000 in cash, purchase 40 shares in total at SEK 25 each and sell all of them at SEK 27 each. No dividend, tax, spread, currency effect or other fee is included. Every purchase uses the same stated price and every sale the same later price. The order count is what differs between the two models.
Student worksheet: complete a cash journal
Group Combined buys all 40 shares in one order and sells them in one order. Group Divided places four purchase orders of ten shares and later four sale orders of ten shares. Calculate the fee count, purchase outflow, remaining cash and sale inflow. Then total the entire ending account.
Calculate the result against the account’s original SEK 2,000, in money and percentage terms. Also calculate the common price gain on the shares before fees. Finally find the sale price at which the ending account equals exactly SEK 2,000, retaining the same order counts and fees.
If the table does not fit, scroll it sideways.
| Condition | Combined | Divided |
|---|---|---|
| Starting cash | SEK 2,000 | SEK 2,000 |
| Shares in total | 40 | 40 |
| Purchase orders | 1 × 40 shares | 4 × 10 shares |
| Sale orders | 1 × 40 shares | 4 × 10 shares |
| Fee per order | SEK 20 | SEK 20 |
Answer key: the same price gain, different cash flows
Combined pays 40 × 25 + 20 = SEK 1,020 at purchase and retains SEK 980. The sale provides 40 × 27 − 20 = SEK 1,060. The ending account is SEK 2,040: a gain of SEK 40, or +2% of the entire starting account. Total fees are SEK 40 and the shares’ price gain before fees is SEK 80.
Divided pays SEK 1,000 for shares plus SEK 80 for four purchase orders, retaining SEK 920. Four sale orders provide 1,080 − 80 = SEK 1,000 in total. The ending account is SEK 1,920: a loss of SEK 80, or −4%. The same price gain of SEK 80 is reduced by total fees of SEK 160.
To break even, the shares’ price gain must cover the fees on both sides. Combined needs 40 / 40 = SEK 1 extra per share, hence a sale price of SEK 26. Divided needs 160 / 40 = SEK 4 extra, hence SEK 29. Verify each price by writing another complete cash journal.
If the table does not fit, scroll it sideways.
| Answer | Combined | Divided |
|---|---|---|
| All fees | SEK 40 | SEK 160 |
| Ending cash | SEK 2,040 | SEK 1,920 |
| Result in money | +SEK 40 | −SEK 80 |
| Result against SEK 2,000 | +2% | −4% |
| Break-even sale price | SEK 26 | SEK 29 |
Teacher notes: check fee counts and the base
An answer of +8% for both groups probably measures only the price move from SEK 25 to SEK 27. That is a correct price change, but it does not answer the question about the ending account after fees. If fees are deducted only once, ask students to mark every purchase and sale order on a timeline.
Distinguish the return on the whole starting account from the return on one position. Some of the SEK 2,000 remains in cash in this activity. Both groups’ percentages use the entire starting account as the base. Another measure could suit another question, but it needs an explicit name and denominator.
Ask students to test a model using a percentage fee with no minimum charge. They must specify the new conditions before calculating. This answer key does not decide which trading pattern someone should use in real life; it shows students which costs a simplified price chart leaves out.
Try it yourself
Five shares are purchased for SEK 100 each. The purchase fee is SEK 15 and the single sale fee is SEK 15. What per-share sale price breaks even in this model?
Show the solution and explanation
The sale price needs to be SEK 106 per share.
The purchase costs SEK 515 in total. The sale must provide SEK 515 after the fee, or SEK 530 before it. 530 / 5 = SEK 106.
Check your understanding
Why is +8% not the entire account’s result?
It describes only the share price from SEK 25 to SEK 27. The account also includes remaining cash and paid fees.
Do these fees apply to an actual broker or Investiq?
No. They are fixed fictional conditions for the activity. Actual price lists and product models need separate verification.
Practise with virtual money
Try what you just learned in a practice portfolio with virtual money. You don't deposit any real money.
How the practice portfolio worksKeep learning and practising
More activities on this topic
Calculate, interpret and evaluate sources
- Evaluate stock claims: a classroom activity with three statements
- Portfolio weights in the classroom: worksheet and answer key
- Read a stock chart in class: three claims and an answer key
- Stock splits and new shares: ownership cards for the classroom
- Inflation and purchasing power: a classroom basket worksheet
- A paper stock-market game: two rounds, student journal and answers
Sources and examples
- Investor.gov: transaction fees and their effect on returns
- Skolverket: mathematics, percentages, change factors and interpreting charts (in Swedish)
The sources support the factual explanations. Calculations and exercises were created for this lesson. Amounts and price changes are invented unless stated otherwise.
This material is educational and does not recommend securities to buy. A simulated result does not guarantee a future result.
