3 Top ETFs I Can't Wait to Buy More of in My Retirement Account This November

The author plans to bolster a retirement portfolio with three ETFs: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot-Bitcoin ETF charging 0.25% to provide tax-advantaged exposure to Bitcoin as a scarce, potential store-of-value hedge; SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), a low-cost (0.09%) core equity holding for long-term, dollar-cost-averaged exposure to broad U.S. large caps (historical ~10% annualized with reinvested dividends); and the newly launched Canary XRP ETF (XRPC), trading since Nov. 13 with a 0.5% fee that offers speculative exposure to XRP on the thesis that faster, cheaper cross-border payments and potential adoption for tokenized real-world assets could drive demand. Together they reflect a balanced, cost-aware approach that adds regulated crypto access within retirement accounts while acknowledging significant adoption and execution risk—particularly for XRP—alongside the steady, diversified return profile of the S&P 500.

Analysis

The author intends to add three ETFs to a retirement portfolio: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and the newly launched Canary XRP ETF (XRPC). IBIT is framed as a tax-advantaged, spot-Bitcoin exposure vehicle that holds Bitcoin directly and charges a 0.25% expense ratio; the article references recent price context (IBIT 2.01%, BTC +1.12%) and notes the author also buys Bitcoin in self-custody outside retirement accounts.

SPY is presented as the core, low-cost equity anchor, tracking 500 large-cap U.S. companies and covering roughly 80% of domestic equity market value with a 0.09% fee; the author cites long-term S&P 500 performance on the order of 10% annualized with dividends reinvested and advocates ongoing dollar-cost averaging for steady compounding.

XRPC launched on Nov. 13 and carries a 0.5% expense ratio; the ETF provides direct XRP exposure and is described as the riskiest idea because its upside depends on adoption by banks, payment processors and tokenized real-world-asset activity. The article highlights XRP’s technical attributes (settlements in 3–5 seconds, fees a fraction of a cent), the author’s plan to buy small quantities over time, and sentiment signals that are mildly positive overall (score 0.3) with stronger per-ticker sentiment for IBIT and BTC (0.6), implying crypto-positive positioning but materially higher execution and adoption risk for XRP.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Consider limited, tax-advantaged exposure to IBIT to gain spot-Bitcoin exposure without self-custody, size allocations to reflect Bitcoin’s volatility and the 0.25% expense ratio
• Continue dollar-cost averaging into SPY as the low-cost (0.09%) core equity holding that the author cites as delivering roughly 10% annualized with reinvested dividends, using it as a long-term portfolio anchor
• Treat XRPC as a speculative allocation: cap initial position sizes, purchase incrementally only after monitoring XRPL adoption by banks/payment processors and any RWA activity following its Nov. 13 launch, and account for the 0.5% fee
• Document and rebalance crypto and equity weights within the retirement account, prefer ETF exposure where self-custody is burdensome, and align sizing with the investor’s time horizon and risk tolerance