Been noticing a lot of people asking me about where to park money in this market, especially after watching growth stocks get hammered year to date. So I figured I'd share three ETFs that keep popping up in my portfolio discussions.

First up is Vanguard Growth ETF. Honestly, this one's a foundational holding for most serious long-term players I know. The expense ratio is basically free at 0.04% - it's almost insulting how cheap it is. You're getting 151 stocks in there, so decent diversification without all the complexity. Down about 6% year to date, which honestly isn't terrible considering how brutal things have been for growth stocks lately. The fund does something smart too - they actually separate their large-cap holdings into growth and value buckets. So you get the real growth plays, not just "we're big so we're growth" situations.

Then there's Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF if you want to go more concentrated. Only 60 holdings, but they're the heavyweights. Nearly 60% of this thing is the Magnificent Seven alone - Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, all those names. Add in Broadcom, Eli Lilly, Visa and you've got 68% in just 10 stocks. Yeah, it's been hit harder than the regular growth fund because those mega-cap growth stocks have taken the biggest beatings. But if you specifically want exposure to the largest growth stock names by market cap, this is the efficient way to do it. Same dirt-cheap 0.05% expense ratio.

Now here's where it gets interesting - iShares Expanded Tech Software Sector ETF. This one's down 21.7% year to date, which is brutal, but that's exactly why people should be looking at it. Software is getting absolutely destroyed right now because everyone's worried AI is going to cannibalize the SaaS business model. And look, some of that fear makes sense - if AI can replace entire software workflows, subscriptions drop, margins get squeezed. I get it.

But here's the thing - you can't just assume an entire industry should stay down forever because of innovation. This is where growth stocks often find their footing again. You're getting exposure to names like Microsoft, Palantir, Oracle, Salesforce all in one basket. Holding a diversified fund through turbulent times is easier than trying to time individual names. The downside? 0.39% expense ratio, which is way higher than the Vanguard funds, but that's the trade-off.

Look, I'm not saying any of these are guaranteed winners. But if you're thinking long-term on growth stock exposure and want to avoid the headache of picking individual companies, these three deserve a closer look. The market's been rough on growth, but that's often when the best opportunities show up.