ETF Alternatives: Though the efficiency of VTI is impressive, there are actually options in the All Cap Equities ETFdb Category that are cheaper: FMU from FocusShares and SCHB from Charles Schwab. Other potentially interesting alternatives include a pair of AlphaDEX funds from First Trust: FAB and FAD.
10. iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (LQD)
Overview: This ETF taps into high quality corporate debt, making it useful as a core holding in many portfolios.
ETF Alternatives: There are plenty of choices in the Corporate Bonds ETFdb Category, but two in particular stand out as compelling alternatives to LQD. PFIG from PowerShares and CBND from State Street both implement alternative weighting methodologies that are more intuitively appealing that the cap weighting approach common in fixed income funds.
11. Barclays Aggregate Bond Fund (AGG)
Overview: This ETF is one of several in the Total Bond Market ETFdb Category that focuses on high quality U.S. debt, including Treasuries and investment grade corporate bonds.
ETF Alternatives: For cheaper exposure to the exact same index, investors actually have three different ETFs from which to choose: BND (0.10%), LAG (0.17%), and SCHZ (at 0.05%, the cheapest bond ETF out there).
12. Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM)
Overview: This ETF is linked to a broad-based index of small cap U.S. equities.
ETF Alternatives: Vanguard’s VTWO offers access to the same index at an expense ratio that is 0.02% lower than IWM’s, while Rydex offers an equal-weighted version in EWRS.