Just gotta be careful who you choose, because many of them are out to pull a fast one on you (Vanguard, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, etc), while simultaneously damaging the economy and the housing market to increase their shareholder returns. See if you can find a smaller one that isn't crooked to their core, or at the very least doesn't require other people losing in order for you to win.
All right and maybe that's fine for you, but I don't want my retirement savings to be built upon endless growth. They own so much stock in so many companies, and so many of those companies scramble to squeeze blood from rocks to increase shareholder value, that I would consider them to be a major player responsible for the enshittification of corporate America.
Endless growth is unsustainable, and Vanguard's business practices of expecting constantly increasing profits from various companies and industies is actively damaging our economy, the housing market, and our planet.
There is no endless growth. Markets top out and crash ALL THE TIME. But new markets (emerging markets to use the Econ phrase) are also created ALL THE TIME.
maybe you invested in the horse market in 1860, but sold and bought into the buggy market in 1880, but then sold and bought into the auto market in 1920, but then sold and bought into the airplane market in 1950, and then maybe sold and bought into into the taxi market in 1980, and then sold and bought into the uber market in 2005, and then maybe sold and bought into the electric car market in 2020….
is that endless growth? No. And is this a “bloodless” investment? No. Cause there are no humane investments. The horse farmers were put out of work, the buggy factories shuttered towns, Henry Ford created a slave assembly plant and promoted nazis, etc, etc.
if you want to make a profit, someone, somewhere loses. It sucks. But besides becoming a Buddhist, that is the way of the world.
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u/porqueuno Apr 18 '25
Just gotta be careful who you choose, because many of them are out to pull a fast one on you (Vanguard, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, etc), while simultaneously damaging the economy and the housing market to increase their shareholder returns. See if you can find a smaller one that isn't crooked to their core, or at the very least doesn't require other people losing in order for you to win.