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If you’re feeling lucky, then sure, go ahead and buy a lottery ticket. But let’s not kid ourselves, winning the lottery is like expecting to get struck by lightning while eating a sandwich on a Tuesday. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot? A staggering 1 in 292 million. And if you’re hoping for a smaller win of $1 million? The odds are still absurd: 1 in 11 million. Oh, and in 2023, Americans dropped over $100 billion on lottery tickets. In return? Only $69 billion was handed out to the winners. So, yeah. Not exactly the best “plan.”

The transaction, reported via Form 13-F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, reflects both new acquisitions and price fluctuations in the underlying equity. The stake now constitutes 3.43% of One Charles’ reportable assets under management.

On a superficial glance, the figures seem innocuous, if not identical. Yet, buried within the mundane details is a deeper story. VCSH has a marginally lower expense ratio at 0.03%, compared to IGSB’s 0.04%. While this difference may appear trivial on the surface, in the context of a sizable portfolio, the reduced cost of VCSH compounds over time. Both funds offer a dividend yield of 4.3%, a modest income in exchange for the stability of corporate bonds, and both have nearly identical beta values, indicating a similar sensitivity to market movements.

Well, unless you’re the sort of person who can make sense of the gibberish that passes for stock market analysis – and frankly, who is? – your best bet may well be to chuck it into the comforting embrace of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). These charming little bundles of stocks trade with the same gusto as any old stock, but they offer the simplicity of an all-in-one basket of equities, which means far less worry for you. Now, if you’ll permit me, let’s look at a few ETFs that could help you along this perilous road to financial freedom, though I remain somewhat skeptical, I must admit.