The ETF planning tool takes an idea like "I want to invest in fast food companies" and finds the ETFs that match it. It tells you why each one fits, shows you the companies inside it, and links the sources it used.
Then it shows what your money could grow to. Put in $5,000 plus $100 a month for 30 years, and you get a conservative, expected, and optimistic estimate, right next to what the same money would do in the S&P 500.
Most investors never get from the idea to the investment. Picking which companies, how many, and how much is where the research stalls.
This guide covers four things:
- Why a basket of companies often fits an idea better than a single stock.
- Where the ETF planning tool is and how to type in an idea.
- How to read the matches and check the sources.
- How to build a plan, change the numbers, and read the projections.
If you already have an idea, you can join Briefs Pro here and type it in tonight.
Why Ideas Stall
Say your idea is "I want to invest in fast food companies."
Now try to buy it. Where do you start?
Do you want the big brand names everyone knows, the companies that own a dozen chains, or the suppliers that sell them the buns?
Each bucket has plenty of public companies, and picking one means reading their filings and comparing their debt.
Most investors get about three companies deep and stop. Our analysts track shifts like this full time, and even they use a five-shift framework so the research doesn't sprawl.
One Stock or a Basket?
You have two ways to buy an idea.
Buy one company. If you pick the winner, you win big. But you're making two bets at once: that the idea is right, and that this specific company executes on it.
Buy a basket. You own a slice of many companies tied to the theme. If the idea is right, you probably win, even if two or three of the companies fumble.
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, lets you buy that whole basket with one purchase. It trades under a single ticker, just like a stock.
The catch: every ETF charges a yearly fee called an expense ratio, and some theme funds hold companies that barely touch the theme. Spreading your bets inside one theme is not the same as spreading them across your whole portfolio.
How to Find the ETF Planning Tool
Look on your left-hand navigation bar in Briefs Terminal. The ETF planning tool is near the bottom, just above Messages.
Step One: Type Your Idea
The tool opens as a blank text box, so you type your idea the way you'd say it out loud. You don't need a ticker or a sector.
For this example, type "I want to invest in fast food companies."
Step Two: Answer the Drill-Down Questions
After you type, the tool asks a series of questions to help you drill down into what you're really looking for.
For the fast food idea, it comes back with "There are a few ways to invest in fast food. Which sounds the most like you?" You get a handful of options, plus an Other box if none of them fit your goals.
For this example, pick the big brand names that everyone knows.
The tool handles vague ideas, too. Type something like "I just want to make money," and it asks which of a few ways to chase high returns sounds right.
If none of the options fit, type your own answer in the Other box, like "I want my investments to pay me cash." The tool comes back with options based on both growth and income.
Step Three: Read the Matches, and Check the Sources
After a few seconds, the tool gives you a short summary of what it believes you're looking for. Then it lists the ETFs it believes match your theme, with a short paragraph on why.
For the fast food idea, PEJ came in at the top, because it had the strongest thematic fit for fast food and quick service restaurants. It holds Restaurant Brands International, the company that owns Burger King and Popeyes, and it had the most concentrated basket of restaurant operators among ETFs.
Underneath it was VCR, a low-cost, diversified option with about 10% allocated to restaurants like McDonald's, Starbucks, and Chipotle. It didn't have the same concentration, and its holdings were mostly companies like Amazon and Tesla.
Every match contains some of what you asked for, and the tool puts the closest match near the top. Under each ETF you can see its holdings, especially the ones that match what you're looking for.
There's also a small Sources tab. It shows the links the tool used, which are often the ETF managers themselves or news sources.
Step Four: Build a Plan
Click Build a Plan to see what your money could grow to in the ETFs you picked.
It lists every ETF the tool found. For the fast food idea that was four, so start by removing a couple for a more concentrated plan.
Then you fill in three numbers:
- Starting investment. For example, $5,000.
- Monthly contribution. For example, $100 a month.
- Time horizon. For example, 30 years.
The plan shows a blended average return per year for your basket, a blended yield, and the allocation, which is split evenly across the ETFs you kept. It always benchmarks against the S&P 500 and its average of about 10% per year.
Scroll down and you get three estimates for your total earnings: conservative, expected, and optimistic. On the right, you see what the same strategy would look like in the S&P 500.
When we ran it, the fast food basket came in at a blended average return of -3.8% per year, well below the S&P 500 benchmark. The tool showed that plainly instead of flattering the idea.
Step Five: Change the Numbers, Then Start Over
Scroll back up and change the inputs. Try a $20,000 start, $500 a month, and 20 years.
The graph of the expected return changes, and the curve gets steeper. The dollar projections change too, but the percent returns don't, because it's the same ETFs with the same expected long-term returns.
You control the start, the monthly amount, and the years. The return belongs to the basket.
If the options don't look good, click Start Over and try a different idea.
For example, start over with "I want my investments to pay me cash," narrow the results down to one dividend ETF, and enter $10,000 to start, $300 a month, and 25 years. When we ran it, the blended return came in far stronger than the fast food basket.
How to Turn an Idea Into a Plan: 6 Steps
- Open the ETF planning tool. Left-hand navigation bar, near the bottom, just above Messages.
- Type your idea in plain English. "I want to invest in fast food companies" works. So does "I want my investments to pay me cash."
- Answer the drill-down question. Pick an option, or use the Other box for a custom answer.
- Read the matches from the top down. Check the holdings and click Sources before you trust the reasoning.
- Click Build a Plan and remove the ETFs you don't want. Enter a starting investment, a monthly contribution, and a time horizon.
- Read all three estimates against the S&P 500. If the conservative case would make you quit, change the plan before you change your portfolio.
Pros and Cons of Investing in an Idea Through an ETF
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One ticker covers the whole theme | Every ETF charges a yearly fee |
| Spreads the risk of any one company fumbling | You also own the theme's weaker companies |
| The tool shows the holdings and the sources behind each match | A theme fund can lag the S&P 500, as the fast food basket did |
| Projections show three cases and a benchmark up front | A projection is an estimate, not a promise |
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the tool doesn't understand my idea? It handles vague ideas, and the drill-down question is where you sharpen it. Pick the option that sounds most like you, or type your own answer in the Other box.
Are ETFs safer than single stocks? They spread the risk of one company failing, but they still rise and fall with the theme and the market. The fast food basket came in below the S&P 500 benchmark.
Where does the tool get its information? The financial information on each ETF comes from Briefs Terminal. For the reasoning behind each match, click the Sources tab, which lists the links the tool used, often the ETF managers themselves or news sources.
The Takeaway
Type the idea into the ETF planning tool, answer the questions, read the matches and sources, and build a plan you can compare against the S&P 500.
You'll either have a plan you understand or a reason to keep thinking. Both beat an idea you never acted on.
Check How Each ETF Grades
Once the ETF planning tool hands you a short list, the next question is how each fund fits your goal. Briefs Investor answers that.
Our analysts don't just sit behind a desk to research. They travel the world finding the next market shift, and that research feeds two tools in Briefs Investor:
- Briefs Score
- Briefs Connector, aka, Supercharge Your AI
Many ETFs carry a Briefs Score, a simple letter grade from A to F built from 30 years of market data.
Whether you are a growth, income, or wealth preservation investor, we rate them differently. That's because one fund might be great for a growth investor but pay no income.
You can also supercharge your favorite AI like ChatGPT or Claude with our Briefs Score and stock data, so it answers with our research instead of what's popular on the internet.
Want to learn more about Briefs Investor? You can see all it has to offer here.
