So between the industry reputation and the corporate structure benefit, is there any wonder why the Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ) makes this list? In addition, since real estate is often considered a reasonable inflation hedge, the opportunity is there for dividends to increase over time, helping preserve the purchasing power of those cash flows. When it comes to investing, there's generally still no such thing as a free lunch, and as a result that higher current income seems like a reasonable trade-off for those less clear long-term growth prospects.