The index this exchange-traded fund (ETF) attempts to mirror has never produced a negative total return, including dividends, over a 20-year period.

There are a lot of ways investors can grow their wealth over time. While acquiring real estate, purchasing Treasury bonds, and buying commodities have all done the trick, no asset class has come particularly close to matching the average annual return of stocks.

But the price of admission to Wall Street's greatest wealth creator is volatility. Though no other asset class has matched the annualized return of the benchmark S&P 500 ( ^GSPC 0.78% ) , ageless Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI 0.47% ) , or growth-inspired Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC 0.98% ) over multidecade periods, getting from point A to point B can oftent

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