Yes, SSL certificates used to be quite costly, but they are relatively inexpensive now. You can even have one SSL certificate that secures multiple websites on the same server, which cuts these costs down even further. If you try and install them yourself, you can still have some difficulty, but most hosting companies will do this for you, so this is no longer a valid reason not to have a SSL. With the advancements in digital technology, the difference in speed today is minimal. If you are still worried, there are also a variety of tools available to help you increase the loading speed of your website, such as compression, cashing, etc.