Weekend Investment lesson.
There are two kinds of ETFs: the ones doing the work, and the ones charging you to watch.
Index ETFs — S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, total market — are the workhorses. They track the index, charge like 0.03%, and quietly outperform most fund managers in suits billing you 1%. Awkward for the suits.
Thematic ETFs — AI, space, robotics, whatever word is trending — are a different species. Someone took 40 stocks that already exist, slapped "AI" on the label, and charges you 20x the fee for the costume. Most of these things launched at the peak of the hype cycle. Most of them bleed.
Hot take: if an ETF needs a catchy theme to sell itself, it's not an investment, it's merch. The boring index fund is the main character. The thematic ETF is the hoodie.
Keeping my own money in the boring stuff. Watching the costumes from a distance 👀
