80 cents vs. $6.20

Hey friend,

Two funds on this week's list. Put $1,000 in each.

One charges you about 80 cents a year. The other charges $6.20.

That's the dollar-store birthday card vs. the $6 one with glitter. Both say happy birthday. One just costs more every single year. 🎂

And the pricier one isn't "bad." It's doing more work. You just deserve to know what you're paying for.

Know the fee before you fall for the ticker.

Same 3 jobs as always: 2 to grow, 2 to steady, 2 to last.

*Yearly fee on every $1,000 invested.

📈 GROW: money you won't touch for 10+ years

SMHX (VanEck Fabless Semiconductor ETF). Launched in August 2024 by VanEck. Holds about 23 companies that design computer chips but hire someone else to build them. Why it's on the list: it's the "brains" side of the AI boom, with names like Nvidia, Broadcom, Arm, Marvell and AMD. Heads up: it's top-heavy. Nvidia and Broadcom alone were about a third of the fund on VanEck's latest posted list.

PSI (Invesco Semiconductors ETF). Launched in June 2005. Holds about 33 chip companies picked by a scoring model, not just by size. Why it's on the list: it's chips with the weight spread around. No single company is much more than 6%, so one bad quarter doesn't sink the whole fund.

🛡️ STEADY: for when the market gets loud

REGL (ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF). Launched in February 2015. Holds about 67 midsize companies that have raised their dividend every year for at least 15 years. Cut the dividend, and you're out. Why it's on the list: nobody carries this fund. Each of the top 10 is under 2%.

FUTY (Fidelity MSCI Utilities Index ETF). Launched in October 2013. Holds about 69 utility companies, like NextEra Energy, Southern Company and Duke Energy. Why it's on the list: people keep the lights on in good years and bad ones. And it's the cheapest fund on this week's list.

💸 LAST: money that pays you to hold it

FVD (First Trust Value Line Dividend Index Fund). Launched in August 2003. Holds about 239 dividend payers that rank high for "safety," each with an equal slice, rebalanced every month. Why it's on the list: it's the most spread out fund here. No company is more than about half a percent. That monthly rebalancing is also why it costs the most on this list.

ENFR (Alerian Energy Infrastructure ETF). Launched in November 2013. Holds about 29 pipeline and storage companies that move oil and gas, like Energy Transfer, Enbridge and Williams. Why it's on the list: pipelines get paid a fee for every barrel that flows through, a lot like a toll road. An oil producer lives and dies by oil prices. A pipeline mostly cares how much flows.

Your homework this week

Find the fee on your biggest fund. Today. Open your 401(k) or brokerage app, tap your largest fund, and look for "expense ratio." Then use my shortcut: expense ratio x 10 = dollars per year for every $1,000. So 0.35% = $3.50.

Then hit reply and tell me what you found. I read every one.

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Go grow your bag. Bye! 💚

Amira Nicole

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P.S. Cadence Design Systems, one of SMHX's companies, beat earnings this week. I didn't read the filing. AllSight read it for me in plain English. First 2 weeks free. (affiliate link)

Fund details as of 10/28/2026, from each fund's provider and fund-data pages. Fees and holdings change. Education only, not financial advice. Some links are affiliate links.