Fund fees not so fun

I'm looking forward to retirement. At age 27, that's a long way off, but I want to be financially prepared when it finally comes. My wife and I are maxing out our Roth IRAs, and we've been investing that money in three different mutual funds: AGTHX (a growth fund), AMECX (an income fund), and AIVSX (a fund that combines features of the first two).

As a do-it-yourselfer, I love to save or make money by learning how to do what I'd normally pay someone else for. I want to learn how to invest money, but I know that the question of, "How and where should I invest?" will be answered differently by every person I ask. So, the default choice is index funds like the S&P 500 Index or Total Stock Market Index. I can pick the index fund that has the lowest fees, and just expect a return nearly identical to that of the market. Up until now, I've been using the services of a CFP friend of mine.

According to a Forbes article about index fund investing:

Compare a typical index fund with a pricey managed fund held over 20 years. In each case, you will forgo earnings on the fees you pay each year. If you leave $50,000 in a fund that charges 0.20% for expenses, typical for an index fund, in 20 years you will have paid $9,146 in fees and forgone earnings. Over 20 years, a typical managed fund that charges 1.2% annually will cost you $49,991. Paying 2.2%? Over 20 years, that'll run you a whopping $83,692.

I've been investing for retirement only since January of this year, but methinks that I've learned enough to dispense with my friend's services, and move my investments into something a little less costly.