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The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) features an attractive 4.17% yield and avoids exposure to the S&P 500.
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The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) includes 175 holdings with a focus on stocks that move slowly.
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The State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) brings you a 2.48% annualized distribution yield with an array of blue-chip electric power providers.
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A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans’ retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here.
History shows that midterm election years aren’t always great years for the S&P 500. Are you properly protected against the full blow of a 2026 market crash?
Probably not, but there are action steps you can take today to brace for the impact of a potential market collapse. Fortunately, there are safety-first exchange traded funds (ETFs) that won’t necessarily offer full protection but could at least reduce the overall effect on your portfolio.
To set you in the right direction, I’m ready to reveal three excellent ETFs to help shield your wealth against a possibly imminent S&P 500 crash. The market will have its rough patches, but owning one or more of these funds might get you through to the other side.
The classical approach to crash-proofing a portfolio is to mix stocks with U.S. government bonds. If it’s impractical to directly add bonds to your portfolio, or if you just want the ease of buying an ETF, you might consider the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NASDAQ:BND).
While it might not sound impressive that the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF is up 3% over the past 12 months, let’s not miss the point here. With the BND ETF, we’re seeking portfolio diversification and yield, not huge share-price gains.
U.S. government bonds have tended to hold up relatively well during previous stock market crashes. Knowing this, you can feel comfortable holding the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF as it invests in an array of bonds with good ratings (BBB or higher).
Furthermore, 69.07% of the fund consists of U.S. government bonds. The fund’s manager, Vanguard, observes that the BND ETF’s “share value tends to rise and fall modestly.”
Thus, we’re discovering an important theme for crash-protective ETFs: de-risking through reduced volatility. Another theme is income generation as this can soften the blow of a broad-market crash.
On that topic, Vanguard proclaims that its Total Bond Market ETF offers “relatively high potential for investment income.” Specifically, it features a robust 30-day SEC dividend yield of 4.17% and only deducts an annualized expense ratio of 0.03% from the share price. For those reasons, the BND ETF is easily my best pick for stock market turbulence in 2026.
