Hey friend,
It's Election Day, and whatever happens tonight, your gas tank looks the same on Friday. 🗳️
Last week the government said the economy grew 3.4% last quarter. The Fed even called it "strong." Meanwhile, gas is up about 34% from a year ago, and heating oil bills are expected to jump about 21% this winter.
Both are true. The economy is the average temperature of the room. You live in your own corner, and right now a lot of corners are next to the open window. 🥶
So here's the question I asked this week: when prices go up, who's on the other side getting paid?
This week's 6 ETFs are the ones collecting.
Same 3 jobs as always: 2 to grow, 2 to steady, 2 to last.
Ticker | What it is | Fee/yr* | |
|---|---|---|---|
📈 GROW | XLE | The oil and gas giants behind your pump price | $0.80 |
PAVE | Companies building roads, rails and power lines | $4.70 | |
🛡️ STEADY | SGOV | Super short government IOUs that pay today's rates | $0.90 |
VTIP | Government bonds that rise with inflation | $0.30 | |
💸 LAST | DGRO | ~390 companies that keep raising their dividends | $0.80 |
NOBL | S&P 500 companies with 25+ years of dividend raises | $3.50 |
*Yearly fee on every $1,000 invested.
📈 GROW: money you won't touch for 10+ years
XLE (Energy Select Sector SPDR). Launched by State Street in December 1998. Holds about 21 energy companies from the S&P 500, like ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips. Why it's on the list: when you pay more at the pump, these are the companies on the other side of the receipt. Heads up: Exxon and Chevron alone are over 40% of the fund, and it lives and dies by oil prices. Remember last week's pipeline fund that gets paid per barrel no matter the price? This is the opposite. Price is everything here.
PAVE (Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF). Launched in March 2017. Holds about 98 US companies that build and supply roads, railroads and the power grid, like Nucor, Deere, Union Pacific and Quanta Services. Why it's on the list: all that AI spending needs electricity, and somebody has to build the lines that carry it. No single company is much more than 4%.
🛡️ STEADY: for when the market gets loud
SGOV (iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF). Launched in May 2020. Holds about two dozen US Treasury bills that pay you back in 3 months or less. Why it's on the list: the Fed kept rates high last week, and this fund gets paid those rates. It's about as calm as investing gets. Heads up: it's not a bank account and it's not FDIC insured, but it's backed by the US government.
VTIP (Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF). Launched in October 2012. Holds about 27 government bonds called TIPS that come due within 5 years. Why it's on the list: when inflation goes up, the value of these bonds goes up with it. Built for exactly the kind of year we're having. And at $0.30 per $1,000, it's the cheapest fund on this week's list.
💸 LAST: money that pays you to hold it
DGRO (iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF). Launched in June 2014. Holds about 390 US companies with a history of growing their dividends. Why it's on the list: when prices go up, you want a paycheck that goes up too. These companies keep giving shareholders a raise.
NOBL (ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF). Launched in October 2013. Holds about 69 S&P 500 companies that have raised their dividend every year for at least 25 years, like Kimberly-Clark, Lowe's and Abbott. Cut the dividend, and you're out. Why it's on the list: 25+ years means these companies kept raising payouts through 2008, 2020 and every gas spike in between. Each one gets roughly an equal slice, so no single company is much more than 2.5%.
Your homework this week
Find out what your cash is earning. Today. Open your savings app and look for the APY. Then use my shortcut: APY x 10 = dollars per year for every $1,000. So 4% = $40.
If you see something like 0.01%? That's 10 cents a year on $1,000, while rates are still high. That's a fee in disguise.
Then hit reply and tell me your number. I read every one.
🎁 Start here if you're new
Before you invest a dollar, find out where the last one went. (Gas station snacks count.)
Want the full step-by-step? The Freedom System is here: both books, the prompt pack and the trackers in one place.
Coming Monday, Nov 9
My free 30-day challenge to start one new stream of income before the holidays kicks off next week. I'm doing it right alongside you. Watch your inbox. 👀
Go grow your bag. Bye! 💚
Amira Nicole
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P.S. I didn't dig through a single government filing to find this stuff. AllSight reads them for me in plain English. First 2 weeks free. (affiliate link)
Fund details as of 11/2/2026, from each fund's provider and fund-data pages. Economic figures from the BEA, BLS, Federal Reserve and EIA. Fees and holdings change. Education only, not financial advice. Some links are affiliate links.