If your goal is to just passively track the broad U.S. markets as closely as possible, one might consider cheap U.S. stock ETFs. For example, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEArca: VTI), with a 0.05% expense ratio, and the Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (NYSEArca: SCHB), with a 0.04% expense ratio, are among the cheapest U.S.-listed ETFs that provide exposure to nearly the entire U.S. stock market. [Build a Dirt-Cheap Portfolio With These ETFs]
VTI tracks the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index, which includes almost every liquid U.S. stock on the market. [The Total Cost of Investing in ETFs]
SCHB, on the other hand, follows the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Stock Market Index, which includes about 95% of the U.S. equity market. However, SCHB does not have exposure to micro-caps, which VTI does.
For more information on index funds, visit our indexing category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.