We're seeing credit-card companies ruthlessly jack up fees everywhere they can. Is it any surprise that mutual funds are doing the same?

Morningstar has found that fund fees have risen in nearly every category, according to CBS MoneyWatch.com. For stock funds alone, the increase has averaged about 5%.

The main reason -- again no surprise -- is the drop in revenue the funds suffered in the financial market plunge. They need to make up those dollars somehow, and an easy option is to raise fees at the customer level. Even Vanguard, famous for its low-fee plans, raised its fees by an average of .05 points, writes Allan Roth.

And while these increases don't seem that bad on the surface, Roth figures that each 0.25% increase delays your financial independence goal by a year.

Two of the biggest fund companies -- Putnam and Schwab -- made a big hullaballoo about lowering their fees recently. But watch out for other costs, Roth writes. Putnam still charges five times what Vanguard does for domestic equity funds. And these firms may be charging less for a few funds to suck you in; after that, they'll try to sell more expensive funds.

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