Every well-rounded investment portfolio should have significant exposure to the stock market. But let's face it – choosing individual stocks isn't right for everyone. To pick individual stocks, you'll need a decent knowledge of basic analytical principles, the time to do your homework and identify great stocks to buy, and the risk tolerance to have your portfolio's performance tied to a basket of companies instead of the stock market as a whole. If all of those things don't apply to you, investing in exchange-traded funds, or ETFs can be the best way for you to invest.
When it comes to ETF investing, some of the most cost-effective funds are offered by Vanguard, which pioneered the concept of low-cost index fund investing and continues to offer some of the best index ETFs in the market.
With that in mind, here's why the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEMKT: VYM), the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ), and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) could be excellent choices for investors who want income from their portfolio while keeping their investment strategy on auto-pilot.
Source Fool.com