Bond ETFs to Avoid: Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (VTIP) VTIP)" src="http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/vanguard-logo-185.jpg"> Expense Ratio: 0.07% Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (NASDAQ: VTIP ) is not the "safe" ETF that everyone thinks. VTIP in particular only holds 15 bonds, because new ones are issued each time another matures. Yet corporate bonds carry more risk than Treasuries, so the path of least resistance will be more sellers to eventually emerge, as we saw in 2014-2016 when oil prices crashed.