Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF - VIG

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, stock ticker VIG, is one of the best ET funds amoung the group. Just think, where can you buy a basket of the best companies in America and get paid a nice dividend while you own shares?

VIG is paying a sweet 33 cent quarterly dividend, which as of today, is a 2.08% dividend yield. Play it safe with this one. Think long term! VIG seeks to track the investment performance of the Dividend Achievers Select Index. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF is an exchange traded share class of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund and holds all the stocks in the index by approximately the same proportions as their weightings in the index. Click here to get the run down of all that is VIG!

The month-end top ten largest holdings within VIG as of 12/31/2011 include some of our favorite dividend stocks for the Common Man!

1 McDonald's Corp
2 International Business Machines Corp
3 Chevron Corp
4 Coca-Cola Co/The
5 Exxon Mobil Corp
6 ConocoPhillips
7 Procter & Gamble Co/The
8 Wal-Mart Stores Inc
9 PepsiCo Inc/NC
10 United Technologies Corp

Unlike many funds where adviser and broker fees chip away at your potential dividend income this fund only charges a 0.18% expense ratio. The fund is designed to pay it's owners increasing dividends, year after year! VIG is based on the Mergent Dividend Achievers Select Index which requires companies to have at least a 10 consecutive year history of rising dividends to be considered. Quite selective if you ask me.

While there are certainly no guarantees when it comes to investing in the stock market, true great companies know that the market views their dividend payouts as strong signaling devices of the overall health of their business. Why would any company willingly downgrade what their investors thought of their operations unless it became absolutely necessary? When a company has an established track record of raising its dividend there is a strong incentive to keep the dividends flowing and VIG is well positioned to reap the benefits of that concept.

Bottomline: VIG provides us with safety in dividend payers that are increasing their dividends, as well as provides us diversification over the spectrum of high quality companies. Check out the video below and please do yourself a favor and always reinvest your dividends!

Vanguard REIT ETF - VNQ

If you have been paying attention then you already know that I believe Charles Schwab ETFs are the best in the business. Also, REITS RULE! That being said, I believe that I have found a great combo of both investment vehicles. Introducing the Vanguard REIT ETF, stock ticker VNQ. Vanguard has Charles Schwab beat with this REIT ETF.

VNQ is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard REIT Index Fund. The fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US REIT Index, a benchmark of United States property trusts that covers about two-thirds of the value of the entire United States real estate investment trust (REIT) market. The Fund’s investment advisor is Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group.

VNQ pays a healthy 50 cent quarterly dividend, which is currently a 3.59% dividend yield (as of 12/14/11). It is the best REIT ETF out today. Within this ETF, Vanguard invests in stocks issued by real estate investment trusts (REITs), companies that purchase office buildings, hotels, and other real property. Their goal is to closely track the return of the MSCI US REIT Index, a gauge of real estate stocks.

If you do not want to invest your hard earned dollars into one or two REIT stocks, then why not purchase some VNQ tomorrow and hold 106 REIT stocks. Click here for a complete listing of stocks held within VNQ. VNQ offers high potential for investment income and some growth. Investing in VNQ is appropriate for helping diversify the risks of stocks and bonds in a Roth IRA portfolio.

Click here to learn more about this solid ETF and watch the video below to learn more about REITs.

Note: I am long VNQ and hold no vested interest in VNQ or Vanguard.