The Algorithm & The Alms-Bowl

One toils, naturally. A second job, a ‘side hustle’ as the Americans quaintly put it. Not for joy, not precisely. Though a certain grim satisfaction can be derived from outwitting the bureaucratic behemoth that is modern existence. No, the true impetus is the gnawing fear – the perfectly reasonable apprehension – that the future will arrive with a bill for everything, and one will find one’s pockets… curiously empty. The securing of a ‘decent retirement’ – a phrase that tastes of dust and regret – is merely a palliative, a delaying of the inevitable reckoning.

And yet, a paradox. This frantic scrabbling for security often consumes the very time that could produce it. The diligent worker, obsessed with the minutiae of their secondary task, has no hours left to monitor the swirling chaos of the market. A fortunate affliction, perhaps. For the market, like a particularly capricious deity, rewards not the devout, but the indifferent.

Let us be blunt. Obsessive stock-picking is a fool’s errand. A frantic chase after phantoms. Better to entrust one’s meager savings to a longer-term, passive instrument. An Exchange Traded Fund, if you must have a name for it. Something that doesn’t require constant vigilance, lest one be driven mad by the relentless ticker tape. The active trader, forever chasing the ‘hot tip,’ is merely a puppet dancing to the tune of brokers and algorithms.

Consider, if you will, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT +0.69%). A rather prosaic name, concealing a rather remarkable history. It holds within its digital embrace such titans as Nvidia (NVDA +1.67%), Apple (AAPL 0.71%), and Microsoft (MSFT +0.51%) – companies that, for better or worse, are reshaping the very fabric of reality. As the chart below demonstrates – a cold, unblinking eye upon the past – this fund has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.01%) since its inception in 2004. A modest average annual gain of a little over 13%, compared to the S&P 500’s roughly 10%. A small victory, perhaps, but in the grand scheme of things, even the smallest advantage can be… significant.

This is not merely a matter of luck, or clever marketing. The technology sector, for all its excesses and absurdities, is undeniably driving the most profound sociocultural changes of our time. From the ubiquitous mobile device to the looming specter of artificial intelligence, it is shaping our lives in ways we are only beginning to understand. And this, my friends, is unlikely to change anytime soon. One might even say it’s inevitable. A new kind of serfdom, perhaps, but one conducted through silicon and algorithms.

A mere $40,000 invested in VGT two decades ago would now be worth approximately $500,000. A comforting thought, though it does little to alleviate the existential dread. Alternatively, one could have reached the same sum by investing roughly $450 per month over the same period. A sum that, for many, represents a substantial portion of their ‘side hustle’ earnings. A curious irony, is it not? That the very work undertaken to escape financial insecurity can, in fact, create it. The algorithm giveth, and the algorithm taketh away. But then, what else is new? The universe, after all, is a vast and indifferent machine, and we are all merely cogs within it. Still, one must strive. One must accumulate. One must prepare for the inevitable reckoning. And perhaps, just perhaps, one might even manage to secure a slightly more comfortable chair in the waiting room of eternity.

2026-01-29 12:53

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