This year has given many investors a reason to consider more than just tech stocks in their portfolios. It's worked for several years, but momentum is shifting, valuations are stretched, and the market is rethinking whether all that AI development spending will be worth it.
Long-term cornerstone portfolio holdings should be broad, diversified, and cheap. You want them to be investments that capture the essence of the market or economy, but not necessarily a specific sector or niche. Those are the kinds of funds you can put $1,000 into and let grow indefinitely.
Vanguard offers a lot of ETFs that fit this description. Here are three that I already own, add to regularly, and plan on holding for years to come.
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Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI 1.23%) is the core position in my portfolio. It covers virtually the entire investable U.S. stock market, more than 3,500 stocks in all across large-, mid-, and small-caps. And it charges just 0.03% annually to own, or $3 annually per $10,000 invested.
NYSEMKT: VTI
Key Data Points
I understand that most people want to own the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF for this purpose, leaning more heavily into large caps and tech stocks. But 2026 has been a good reminder of why diversifying into other areas of the U.S. market remains important. With little notice, the market shifted away from tech and into value, dividend, and small-cap stocks. And they're outperforming by a wide margin.
Buying the whole market means you don't have to worry about when one area of the market is in or out of favor. Owning it all lets you be a participant.
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF
The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG 0.86%) is one of the best ways to own long-term dividend growth stocks. Like small-caps, they've been ignored pretty much entirely since 2022. They're not exciting, but they provide a durable income stream. And the mature, quality nature of these companies makes for a perfect long-term holding.
NYSEMKT: VIG
Key Data Points
This ETF yields only 1.6%, so it's not going to be an income lover's dream. The fact that it eliminates the top 25% of yields right off the bat actually improves the quality profile. Some of these companies can be yield traps, where the high yield exists only because of a falling share price. By focusing on quality over yield, this ETF fits the profile of a fund that can be held forever.
Vanguard Total International Stock ETF
Let's not forget that there's a huge equity market outside the U.S. as well.
The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS 1.62%) invests in developed and emerging market stocks outside of the United States. Like the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, it simply owns the investment in the foreign stock market and market cap-weights the holdings.
NASDAQ: VXUS
Key Data Points
The biggest advantages of owning international stocks are 1) these economies often move in different cycles than the U.S. economy, adding important diversification benefits, and 2) the sector composition is much different than that of the S&P 500. It has much larger allocations to financials and industrials but a much smaller weighting to tech.
Overall, all three of these ETFs fit the definition of the ideal ETF built for buy-and-hold investing.
