As an investor, you've been told that you can't time the market. So, you probably look for the best stocks to hold for the long term. After all, billionaire investor Warren Buffett has said that when owning stocks in well-managed businesses, his "favorite holding period is forever."

Forever is an exceptionally long time, even for a buy-and-hold investor like Buffett, but his statement raises the question: “Which stocks are worth holding forever?”

Buffett's answer to that question was released in the Berkshire Hathaway letter to shareholders: "We constantly seek to buy new businesses that meet three criteria. First, they must earn good returns on the net tangible capital required in their operation. Second, they must be run by able and honest managers. Finally, they must be available at a sensible price."

With that in mind, here are eight suggestions, including Berkshire Hathaway itself and three companies (Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon) in Berkshire's investment portfolio.

1. Apple (AAPL)

On August 2, , Apple became the first U.S. company to have a market capitalization of $1 trillion. As of September 30, , Apple was the largest holding in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, with a value of $ billion.

Apple held a 47% share of the U.S. smartphone market in the third quarter of It also led in the tablet industry with a market share of % in the fourth quarter. And in February , Apple paid a quarterly dividend of 22 cents per share.

2. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

This New Jersey-based healthcare and pharma giant is known as a “dividend aristocrat.” From at least through , Johnson & Johnson increased the value of its cash dividends every year. In , it paid dividends of $ per share, up from $ per share in In the 10 years ending on Feb. 12, , the stock's split-adjusted return (not including reinvested cash dividends) was %.

3. Dover (DOV)

This Chicago-based business focuses on fluid management, industrial products, and manufacturing support systems (not exactly the stuff of dinner party banter). However, Dover, like J&J, is a dividend powerhouse and has also increased its annual cash dividend every year from at least through

In , Dover paid quarterly dividends totaling $ per share, up from $ in

4. Microsoft (MSFT)

In , Microsoft became the third company to achieve a market cap of more than $1 trillion. Co-founder Bill Gates is among the world's richest people.

Under the direction of chief executive officer Satya Nadella, who had been in charge of the company's cloud infrastructure and services business, Microsoft has become less reliant on its Office software suite and Windows operating system for revenue. In the second quarter of fiscal year , the company's revenue from Office Commercial products and cloud services rose 14% from a year earlier.

Microsoft has also paid a quarterly dividend since the fourth quarter of fiscal year In fiscal year , it paid a quarterly dividend of 56 cents per share. The company announced dividends of 62 cents per share for each of the first two quarters of fiscal year

5. McDonald’s (MCD)

McDonald’s is by far the biggest fast-food chain in the U.S. by sales, around twice that of its closest rival, Starbucks. It was the highest-valued fast-food restaurant brand in the world in , with a brand value of $ billion.

McDonald's has increased its total dividend payments every year since In , its annual dividend amounted to $, up from $ in

In the 10 years ended on Feb. 11, , the stock's total return, excluding reinvested dividends, was %. Including reinvested dividends, it was %.

6. www.oldyorkcellars.com (AMZN)

Amazon is the second-largest retailer in the world by revenue, behind only Walmart. Its revenue totaled $ billion. But like its rival Microsoft, Amazon is relying more and more on its cloud computing business to drive revenue and profit gains.

The stock's average annual return from to was %. Amazon was the second company to reach a $1 trillion market cap.

7. Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG)

Alphabet pretty much controls the entire search engine universe (via Google) and online video (via YouTube). It’s also sitting on a ton of cash and securities: $ billion as of December 31, On January 16, , Alphabet became the fourth company to have a market cap of more than $1 trillion.

Following a stock split in that was meant to maintain co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page's control over the company, there are now two different classes of publicly traded Alphabet shares. Each Class A share, with the symbol GOOGL, confers one shareholder vote. Holders of Class C shares, which trade under the symbol GOOG, have no voting rights. (There are also privately held Class B shares, which are held by the company's founders and executives and confer 10 votes per share.)

8. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B)

Finally, we're getting to Buffett's own company. At $, on Feb. 11, , Berkshire Hathaway's Class A stock (BRK.A) price was so expensive that most Americans would have to work several years to buy even one share. The Class B shares traded at a much lower price: $ on that date.

Buying Berkshire stock is like betting on Buffett, who built on his investments in textile mills in the s to become the world's fifth-richest person, with a net worth of $ billion as of Feb. 13, , according to Forbes. It also means buying a piece of a large stable of companies, both well-known and obscure. These include insurance company GEICO, fast-food chain International Dairy Queen, battery maker Duracell, packaged food giant Kraft Heinz, paint maker Benjamin Moore, and Acme Brick Company.

Only about six decades have passed since Buffett first bought shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which is a lot shorter than "forever." But if you had invested $1, with Buffett when he took control in , it would have been worth $18 million in

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Balance does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

Stock markets such as the FTSE and S&P tanked following news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. Uncertainty over the consequences of the crisis has spooked investors and prompted a huge sell-off in stocks.

So is now a bad time to buy shares, or are there opportunities to be had while others are fearful?

In this article we set out:

Prefer to watch rather than read?

Here&#;s our video on investing during a crisis

Is now a good time to buy shares?

It all depends on what you buy. While the future of some companies look positive, the same can&#;t be said for all businesses.

It&#;s important to do your research into each company you buy. Listed companies release their financial results which can give you a picture of the health of the company.

Also bear in mind that some sectors fared better than others during the pandemic. Broadly speaking, technology companies have done well while travel firms have suffered.

However, even tech companies are experiencing share price volatility. Take a company as famous as Facebook. The tech darling&#;s owner Meta Platforms saw its stock market value drop by more than $bn (£bn) on 3 February this year in what was a record daily stock market fall for a US firm.

Meta&#;s shares fell 26% after it announced daily active user numbers dropped for the first time in the company&#;s 18 year history, and they have not yet recovered.

Remember:

• Don&#;t buy shares in a company just because someone said you should (always do your own research first)
• Selecting and monitoring individual shares is time-consuming
• You can buy investment funds or use a robo-adviser so that an expert investor can select shares on your behalf

If you&#;re new to investing, you might want to read our beginners&#; guide to investing first.

Why has the stock market dropped?

Most major stock markets dropped off a cliff on February 24 following news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. The crisis has caused huge amounts of uncertainty as investors worry this will spill over into the businesses they are invested in.

As a result, lots of investors sold their stocks. The FTSE , the index which measures the performance of the largest companies in the UK, dropped by % in the first few hours of trading that day.

It&#;s never a good idea to panic and sell stocks when the markets are falling because there is a danger that you could end up crystallising losses. We explain how to invest in volatile times later on in this article.

Also bear in mind that stock markets have been very volatile since the start of the pandemic.

While most restrictions in the UK have now been withdrawn, some markets continue to wobble because of concerns about new waves of coronavirus.

Is now a good time to invest?

Reasons to feel hopeful about the stock market:

• Successful booster vaccination roll-out has led to an increase in movement, trade and spending
• Industries that were hit by subsequent lockdowns, such as travel and entertainment, have reopened
• Takeovers will continue as investors and companies seek new opportunities
• Some sectors are booming: technology, e-commerce and biotech have thrived during the pandemic and will continue to grow
• Despite gradual increases, the UK&#;s national interest rate is still low at %, which is encouraging people to spend or invest

Reasons to feel cautious about the stock market:

• The impact of the Ukraine crisis could hit global businesses
• Some nationals are still fearful over new strains of the coronavirus
• Rising inflation will weigh heavily, meaning people have less money in their pockets
• Disruption caused by the global energy crisis may continue for some time
• Brexit is still affecting supply chains
• Central banks are unwinding pandemic support measures

Crashes can come out of the blue and their causes only become apparent with hindsight.

Find out more about how to invest during a recession.

When will the next stock market crash happen?

A stock market crash is a sudden and significant drop in the value of stocks.

Some stock market speculators panic and sell their shares fearing that if the price falls further, they could lose even more of the money they invested.

No one can accurately predict whether or not the stock market is going to crash. All you can do is evaluate which factors will influence the stock market and your particular investments. 

Bear in mind that when stocks rise rapidly, there is always a danger that they could fall just as quickly.

The FTSE share price, which measures the performance of the largest listed British companies, had been reaching fresh highs before plunging on news that Russia was invading Ukraine.

If you&#;d like to know more about today&#;s big investment trends, check out our guide here.

The ups and downs of the market

Beware of market volatility at the moment. The FTSE , which measures the performance of the biggest companies in the UK, has been on an upwards trajectory over the past year but it has been a bumpy road to get there.

Netflix, Deliveroo, and Peloton are good examples of the fluctuations in share prices that you need to consider when investing.

The streaming service, food delivery company and exercise equipment maker were seemingly three of the corporate winners of the coronavirus outbreak.

Below, we explain how their shares have performed over the past two years.

Upsides

• Netflix gained 16m new subscribers during , revenues of $bn in April and predicted a better second quarter to the year
• Deliveroo has benefitted from a $m Amazon investment, increased customer engagement
• Peloton shares gained % through

Downsides

But none of these companies are immune to the negative affects of the pandemic or other headwinds:

• Netflix
  • Production of many new Netflix shows were halted
  • Competition in the sector notably from the newer players like Disney+
  • Lower than expected sign-ups in the first quarter of

• Deliveroo
  • Yet to turn a profit: while its revenues grew 54% to £bn last year, the company made a loss of £m
  • Deliveroo shares fell 30% in the first 20 minutes of its listing on the London Stock Exchange on March 31,
  • Reliance on gig-economy workers at a time when they are being handed more legal rights

• Peloton
  • Peloton share price has dropped by 82% to $29 from its peak of $ in December
  • A series of accidents with equipment led to the death of a child and the company announced a massive product recall
  • A victim of its own lockdown success, with supply chain problems
  • Peloton&#;s future is uncertain now gyms have reopened

These are good examples of why you need to weigh up the pros and cons of each company before you buy their shares.

You might want to read more in our article How to buy shares.

Here are eight things to consider:

1. Volatility

Equities can be very volatile when there is uncertainty and could pull back a lot if new variants of COVID are discovered that evade the vaccines. 

2. Context is everything

Just because something is not cheap it does not make it unattractive.

Interest rates have risen but they are still very low. In this environment, businesses in growing markets with access to cheap money tend to do well and what you pay now may look cheap in ten years.

3. Not all equities are the same

Some shares are in fact expensive because they are over-hyped. This means they might fade away over the next few years.

4. Are you happy going against the crowd?

Investing when people are fearful is understandably daunting, particularly when there is so much uncertainty in the world.

But consider whether you believe will be in a better situation by the time you will want the money. Things can always get worse before they get better.

5. Investing is for the long-term

Remember a “loss” is only a loss when you sell the investments. Your decision depends on how quickly you’d need the money and whether you understand that shares can fall as well as rise. Can you stomach losing money should markets continue to fall?

6. Inflation

With interest rates still low at %, a savings account won’t help your money grow.

When you allow for inflation, which measures the rising cost of living and is currently at %, you’re almost guaranteed to be worse off.

Investing gives your money the best chance of growing.

7. Use a stocks and shares ISA

It&#;s a good idea to hold your shares in an ISA to protect your earnings from dividend tax and capital gains tax.

We explain: How are shares taxed?

8. Buy a pool of shares

If you would rather invest in a basket of shares rather than choosing them yourself, you could invest in a fund.

Some funds simply track a stock market like the S&P , which is an index measuring the biggest companies in the United States.

Why should you drip feed?

If you are thinking what shares to buy now, remember it is almost impossible to time the market perfectly to make the most of your money.

For example:

• Invest when markets are rising, you may have missed the boat for the best returns
• Invest when the markets falling, and they could fall a lot further still

Drip feeding your money in slowly, rather than investing it all in as one lump sum, removes this tricky decision.

This not only encourages a good savings habit. It smooths the investment journey by buying more units when markets are lower (known as pound cost-averaging)

How do you get dividends?

Dividends are what a company pays to shareholders when it makes a profit.

The pandemic has affected the cash position and growth of a number of businesses, which has impacted on the amount shareholders have received in dividends.

Throughout the UK’s biggest banks RBS, Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, and Standard Chartered all suspended dividend payments and share buybacks.

Dividend-paying stocks are often a popular choice to include in your investment portfolio. But remember, the dividends you earn might be subject to tax.

Four tips for investing during uncertain times

Here are our four golden rules when it comes to investing during a financial crisis:

1. Stay calm: the pandemic has stirred up a lot of emotions, but stay rational about your investments.
2. Consider your aims: investing is personal. You choices depend on your circumstances, objectives, needs and risk tolerance. The key is diversification
3. Use your tax relief: you can invest tax-free with an ISA. You can also get an instant uplift with a pension and a lifetime ISA, as the government will add extra cash whenever you pay in more money. We explain more about that here.
4. Drip-feed your money: if the markets go down further you’re buying at a cheaper level and it could help smooth out your returns, with the hope they recover and grow in the longer term. 

Best sectors to invest in

Making the most of a buying opportunity often means looking for firms that are well placed for any potential structural shifts.

Here are some sectors that are worth paying attention to:

• Fintech: companies that help people work remotely or pay for goods or services are worth investigating.
• Ecommerce: the pandemic has boosted online shopping as people continue to stay away from crowded malls and supermarkets.
• Renewable energy: a rapid fall in the cost of building renewable energy projects has happened at the same time as a greater awareness of the climate crisis. These assets provide reliable income streams, which are often backed by government subsidies. Read more in our guide to ethical investing.
• Online gaming: these businesses were among the most resistant to the Covid stock market sell-off.
• Commodities: this includes precious metals such as gold and silver which are often seen as &#;safe&#; assets to hold during market turmoil (though remember all investments come with a degree of risk).
• Banks: the banks could be worth watching. Remember, banks have been through the financial crisis and may therefore fare better in an economic recovery than markets anticipate.
• Leisure sector: after months of isolation, people want to go out and spend. Restaurants and pubs with the strongest balance sheets might fare very well as they might have the opportunity to pick up cheap distressed assets from rivals that went bust.

Should you buy cheap British stocks?

One of the world’s biggest investment banks JP Morgan has been telling investors to buy British stocks now while they are cheap.

The investment firm had taken a bearish stance on British stocks since the EU referendum in June When compared to companies in the US and Europe, UK shares have underperformed since the Brexit vote.

But JP Morgan has said there are a few things that could change the fortunes of British stocks:

• UK shares have strong dividends
• Stock markets like the US and China are expected to struggle maintain their momentum going forward, paving the way for the UK to outperform
• UK stocks have tended to rise in the months after an interest rate rise.

What are the stocks to invest in right now?

We have listed some companies below that might be worth considering. However, we always recommend that you do your own research before buying shares.

• Rolls Royce: the company makes engines for planes that embark on long-haul flights. With so many planes being grounded during the pandemic, the Rolls Royce share price suffered. However, things are looking more positive after it swung into profit.
• Avast: the cybersecurity group could be bought by an American rival. Analysts valued the FTSE company at £bn and suggested the business could end up in a bidding war. The news prompted the Avast share price to climb 17%.
• Wise: previously called Transferwise, it converts money into different currencies, but it has plans to branch into other areas of financial services.
• Nissan: the shares look interesting given its plans for an electric battery factory in Sunderland that is set to be worth £1bn.
• JD Sports share price rose after the company&#;s five-for-one share split at the end of November. JD is now valued at £bn, and after Tesco is Britain&#;s second most valuable shops group.  
• Beyond Meat&#;s share price rose on the news that the plant-based company&#;s chicken alternative will be available at Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) across the US. A number of other companies have also teamed up with Beyond Meat and it looks like the move towards vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets continues.
• Taylor Wimpey&#;s

Warren Buffett is a proponent of value investing, which looks to find stocks that are undervalued in their market price as compared to their intrinsic value. Financial metrics like price/book (P/B), price-to-earnings (P/E), return on equity (ROE), and dividend yield carry the most weight on the Buffett scales. In addition, Buffett seeks out companies that have what he calls "economic moats"—high barriers to entry for a competitor who may wish to invade the market and erode profit margins.

Nike Inc.

The Nike (NKE) name is synonymous with high-performance shoes, but the company has expanded far beyond just footwear and is now a leader in apparel, sporting goods, and just about anything else for the athletically-inclined. Nike is also close to the top in just about every market it participates in.

As of December 3, , the company has $ billion in cash and $ billion in total debt. This company is also making big inroads in China and other developing economies, and it has one of the strongest and most recognizable brands in the world.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway

Buffett really believes in this rail freight company—so much so that he put $34 billion on it on Nov. 3, This freight railroad operator either owns or leases 32, route miles of track in the United States and Canada. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) transports nearly everything that makes an economy go, from consumer goods and autos to lumber, petroleum, and coal. Notably, while Buffett owns a controlling in BNSF, the company is not publicly traded since it was acquired as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire in

Railroad operators like BNI are considered "early cycle" beneficiaries of a strengthening economy; when activity picks up after a recession, transport companies tend to be among the first to see higher orders, as well as increased sales and earnings growth. Burlington Northern also sports a below-market average P/E and a total market % dividend yield.

ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (COP) is an integrated energy company that participates in all parts of the oil and gas industry—from drilling to refining to end sales of refined products like gasoline, natural gas, and petrochemicals for industrial use.

After a historically volatile year for the energy and oil and natural gas sectors, ConocoPhillips reported a third-quarter loss of $ billion, or ($) per share, compared with third-quarter earnings of $ billion, or $ per share. The company also distributed $ billion in dividends and announced an increase to the quarterly dividend for shareholders.

Costco

This operator of discount warehouses has been the definition of slow and steady for decades. Operating under a strict philosophy of capping profit margins so that customers get lower prices whenever Costco (COST) does, the company has built a loyal following that borders on fanatical. Members pay an annual fee to Costco for the right to shop at the stores, and most Costco cardholders will tell you that they can save more money than the membership cost in a single visit. Those membership fees, meanwhile, drop like a rock to Costco's bottom line as net income.

Costco sells mostly grocery items, produce, and consumer goods, but you can find just about anything in a Costco warehouse, including clothes, electronics, seasonal goods, jewelry, and home improvement items.

The Coca-Cola Company

Buffett has owned the eponymous soft drink maker since , and it has been one of his most successful holdings. Coca-Cola (KO) continues to grow around the world, following a unique strategy of selling mainly syrup and concentrate to bottlers and restaurants, which then formulate the finished products that you see in grocery stores and restaurants.

While the U.S. market is somewhat saturated, the leading brand and high-profit margins make Coca-Cola a cash cow—a source of dependable earnings, year in and year out. In addition, the company generates the lion's share of sales overseas, and it sports strong product growth rates in emerging markets like India. While Coca-Cola India experienced a 2% fall in its consolidated net profit, its total income was up % during Finally, revenue from operations rose % during as compared to a year ago.

Procter & Gamble

It's a safe parlor bet to say there's at least one Procter & Gamble (PG) product in every home in America. The company is a consumer products Goliath, with brands like Tide, Bounty, Pampers, Head & Shoulders, Gillette, Olay, Crest, Oral-B, Dawn, Downy, and Duracell. P&G's long-term strategy is to only compete in markets where it has a number one or number two market share and pare off products when it can't obtain that leadership position. Having a top market share allows PG to easily raise product prices when the cost to produce items rises.

As of December 3, , PG also has a % dividend yield and a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 

The Bottom Line

There's no shame in being a coattail investor, especially when that coat belongs to Warren Buffett. While all stock investing comes with some risk, a basket of these six stocks is a diversified way to participate in an economy that is by all accounts growing after the worst recession in decades. These market leaders have high barriers to competition, are fairly priced, and, regardless of what short-term stock prices say, should deliver long-term value to shareholders.

As Buffett himself said, in the short term the market is a voting machine, in the long term, it is a weighing machine. Buffett has an uncanny ability to pick the stocks with the greatest growth potential, ensuring that the profit scale will always tip in his favor.

Investing for the long-term means holding on to your investments of choice for years or even decades. What are the best long-term investments? The answer depends entirely on your goals and risk tolerance.

The Best Long-Term Investments in Stocks

Of all the long-term investments available, you’re probably most familiar with stocks. Plenty of investors choose individual stocks, but most people go for equity index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Owning just one stock-based fund like an S&P index fund provides your portfolio with exposure to hundreds of stocks. You get great diversification, which decreases the risk any one investment causes you to lose money, best long term investments stocks. Other excellent long-term stock investments include growth funds and value funds.

Growth and Value Stock Funds

Growth funds are ETFs or mutual funds that invest in growth companies. They aim to provide investor returns through rapid price appreciation, rather than dividend income. Growth funds often invest in some of the largest companies by market capitalization, best long term investments stocks, or the total dollar value of their outstanding share.

Value funds, meanwhile, look to invest in companies the market may have undervalued based on their fundamental finances. These tend to be more stable, well-established companies that have long histories of rewarding investors with dividends, even though their future growth may be much slower than growth companies.

The best growth funds tend to do best when interest rates are low and economies are heating up. Because of their solid financial fundamentals, value stocks, on the other hand, historically have excelled when the economy takes a turn and the easy money growth companies use to fuel their expansion dries up.

Stock funds can be either best long term investments stocks or passively managed and charge varying fees. You’ll find both types represented in growth and value funds. Growth and value funds are both also available as mutual funds or ETFs.

Individual Stocks

Investing in individual stocks is much riskier than investing in mutual funds or ETFs, since you’re placing your bets on only single companies instead of diversified funds. As you might expect, that means this option is only suited to those who have longer investment horizons and have stomachs of steel when it comes to risk.

Yes, you may wind up with greater returns than if you invest in diversified funds, but you’re also exposing yourself to comparably greater risk. While stock market indexes have never zeroed out, individual companies’ stocks certainly have.

Even if you’re willing to take on the risk of individual stocks, you’ll likely be best served by sticking with blue-chip companies with solid long-term performances. Their share prices are less likely to experience big swings than newer, smaller companies’, and some even pay dividends.

Best Long-Term Bond Investments

Historically, bonds have been considered much less risky than stocks and stock funds because they provide regular income payments and entitle their owners to receive payment before stockholders if a company folds. Even within the category of bonds, though, risks vary.

Government bonds are considered safest whereas company bonds can range from low-risk, high-quality bonds to junk bonds with enticing interest rates and a high likelihood of default.

Because they can be difficult for individual investors to buy—and because diversification is just as important with bonds—most investors opt to purchase bond funds instead of individual bonds. Interest rates are so low right now that the income they produce is minimal, and many bonds will fall in value if interest rates rise—which many investors believe they will soon.

Still, the best long-term bond investments can still produce income for a portfolio while experiencing less volatility than stocks. Some of the best long-term bond funds include bond funds and ETFs and government bonds, like TIPS and I bonds.

Bond Funds and ETFs

One of the best ways that investors can make long-term investments in bonds while minimizing risk of loss from default is by investing in bond-based funds. These funds operate similarly to stock funds, except that they invest in bonds and other income-producing investments rather than equities.

Like stock funds, best long term investments stocks, bond funds have different fee levels and management strategies. Some track major bond indexes, like index funds, whereas others are actively managed by bond and fixed income professionals. But what’s consistent across all bond funds is that they all own a basket of investments, which helps to spread out risk to investors.

Read more:Best Total Market Bond Funds

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) and I Bonds

When it comes to investment security, it’s hard to beat the U.S. government, whose bonds are virtually risk free thanks to its track record of repayment.

For the best long-term, government-backed returns, you’ll want to check out Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) and I bonds. Both are indexed to measures of inflation, meaning your initial investment should always retain its purchasing power, making them attractive for long-term investment.

Single-bond investing is actually the norm here: You can buy both directly from the U.S. Treasury at www.oldyorkcellars.com You may also consider funds that invest in TIPS.

Best Long-Term Crypto Investments

Cryptocurrencies have only been around for about 15 years, so the idea of long-term crypto investments is still a bit of an oxymoron. Plus, the prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, so most investors who are interested in crypto tend to approach it with an eye to short-term trading, rather than long-term investments.

Nevertheless, for those willing to tolerate the risk, there are crypto investments that can be considered for part of a buy-and-hold strategy. Some involve individual coins while others involve a more diversified approach or alternative ways to get exposure to the crypto market.

Of course, no matter how you choose to invest, you should always be careful when investing in crypto. Crypto is undoubtedly the most volatile—and unproven—of the three major investment categories. So it&#;s generally a good idea to avoid investing a considerable portion of your net worth in this asset class.

Crypto ETFs

Crypto ETFs are relatively new, but they’re already a large and growing category of investments. These ETFs operate similar to stock and bond ETFs and allow investors to own a basket of cryptocurrencies, though often this basket consists of the same coin or even future contracts for a given coin. This can still be desirable, though, as it lets investors avoid the hassle of managing a crypto wallet and many hacking concerns.

Crypto-Related Assets

Similarly, if you’d like to benefit from crypto growth without needing to hold coins in a crypto wallet, you might consider investing in best long term investments stocks involved in crypto, like the stocks of cryptocurrency exchanges or blockchain companies. As an added bonus, many of the companies&#; valuations are not as volatile as cryptocurrencies themselves, meaning they may provide a less bumpy investment ride.

For a diversified approach, consider funds that hold tens of crypto-related stocks, like our picks for the best blockchain ETFs.

Individual Coins

As with investing in traditional equities, the riskiest approach is the one that involves the least amount of diversification. Holding individual coins, whether they’re Bitcoin or Dogecoin, can be incredibly risky propositions: Best long term investments stocks many have seen impressive highs since their debuts, almost all cryptos have experienced wild amounts of volatility that have seen their values plummet.

If you&#;re going to go the route of picking individual coins for long-term crypto investments, best long term investments stocks, it&#;s a good idea to stick with some of the more established coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Then, if you want to consider smaller positions in newer or less-established coins, you can certainly do that.

Disclaimer: As of the date of publication, the author holds investments in stock funds and cryptocurrencies, including both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

One of the best ways to secure your financial future is to invest, and one of the best ways to invest is over the long term. It may have been tempting over the past few years to deviate from a long-term approach and chase quick returns. But with the market&#x;s current high valuations, it&#x;s more important than ever to focus on investing for the long haul while sticking to your game plan.

Investors today have many ways to invest their money and can choose the level of risk that they&#x;re willing to take to meet their needs. You can opt for very safe options such as a certificate of deposit (CD) or dial up the risk &#x; and the potential return! &#x; with investments such as stocks, mutual funds or ETFs.

Or you can do a little of everything, diversifying so that you have a portfolio that tends to do best long term investments stocks in almost any investment environment.

The best long-term investments in March

1. Growth stocks
2. Stock funds
3. Bond funds
4. Dividend stocks
5. Value stocks
6. Target-date funds
7. Real estate
8. Small-cap stocks
9. Robo-advisor portfolio
10. Roth IRA

Overview: Top long-term investments in March

1. Growth stocks

In the world of stock investing, growth stocks are the Ferraris. They promise high growth and along with it, high investment returns. Growth stocks are often tech companies, but they don&#x;t have to be. They generally plow all their profits back into the business, so they rarely pay out a dividend, at least not until their growth slows.

Growth stocks can be risky because often investors will pay a lot for the stock relative to the company&#x;s earnings. So when a bear market or a recession arrives, these stocks can lose a lot of value very quickly. It&#x;s like their sudden popularity disappears in an instant, best long term investments stocks. However, growth stocks have been some of the best performers over time.

If you&#x;re going to buy individual growth stocks, you&#x;ll want to analyze the company carefully, best long term investments stocks, and that can take a lot of time, best long term investments stocks. And because of best long term investments stocks volatility in growth stocks, you&#x;ll want to have a high risk best long term investments stocks or commit to holding the stocks for at least three to five years.

Risk/reward: Growth stocks are among the riskier segments of the market because investors are willing to pay a lot for them. So when tough times arrive, these best long term investments stocks can plummet. That said, the world&#x;s biggest companies &#x; the Alphabets, the Amazons &#x; have been high-growth companies, so the reward is potentially limitless if you can find the right company.

2. Best long term investments stocks funds

If you&#x;re not quite up for spending the time and effort analyzing individual stocks, then a stock fund &#x; either an ETF or a mutual fund &#x; can be a great option. If you buy a broadly diversified fund &#x; such as an S&P index fund or a Nasdaq index fund &#x; you&#x;re going to get many high-growth stocks as well as many others. But you&#x;ll have a diversified and safer set of companies than if you own just a few individual stocks.

A stock fund is an excellent choice for an investor who wants to be more aggressive by using stocks but doesn&#x;t have the time or desire to make investing a bitcoin investering 6 days hobby. And by buying a stock fund, you&#x;ll get the weighted average return of all the companies in the fund, so the fund will generally be less volatile than if you had held just a few stocks.

If you buy a fund that&#x;s not broadly diversified &#x; for example, a fund based on one industry &#x; be aware that your fund will be less diversified than one based on a broad index such as the S&P So if you purchased a fund based on the automotive industry, it may have a lot of exposure to oil prices. If oil prices rise, then it&#x;s likely that many of the stocks in the fund could take a hit.

Risk/reward: A stock fund is less risky than buying individual positions and less work, too. But it can still move quite a bit in any given year, perhaps losing as much as 30 percent or even gaining 30 percent in some of its more extreme years.

That said, a stock fund is going to be less work to own and follow than individual stocks, but because you own more companies &#x; and not all of them are going to excel in any given year &#x; your returns should be more stable. With a stock fund you&#x;ll also have plenty of potential upside. Here are some of the best index funds.

3. Bond funds

A bond fund &#x; either as a mutual fund or ETF &#x; contains many bonds from a variety of issuers. Bond funds are typically categorized by the type of bond in the fund &#x; the bond&#x;s duration, its riskiness, the issuer (corporate, municipality or federal government) and other factors. So if you&#x;re looking for a bond fund, there&#x;s a variety of fund choices to meet your needs.

When a company or government issues a bond, it agrees to pay the bond&#x;s owner a set amount of interest annually. At the end of the bond&#x;s term, the issuer repays the principal amount of the bond, and the bond is redeemed.

A bond can be one of the safer investments, and bonds become even safer as part of a fund. Because a fund might own hundreds of bond types, across many different issuers, it diversifies its holdings and lessens the impact on the portfolio of any one bond defaulting.

Risk/reward: While bonds can fluctuate, a bond fund will remain relatively stable, though it may move in response to movements how do miners make money on bitcoin the prevailing interest rate. Bonds are considered safe, relative to stocks, but not all issuers are the same. Government issuers, especially the federal government, are considered quite safe, while the riskiness of corporate issuers can range from slightly less to much more risky.

The return on a bond or bond fund is typically much less than it would be on a stock fund, perhaps 4 to 5 percent annually but less on government bonds. It&#x;s also much less risky.

4. Dividend stocks

Where growth stocks are the sports cars of the stock world, dividend stocks are sedans &#x; they can achieve solid returns but they&#x;re unlikely to speed higher as fast as growth stocks.

A dividend stock is simply one that pays a dividend &#x; a regular cash payout. Many stocks offer a dividend, but they&#x;re more typically found among older, best long term investments stocks, more mature companies that have a lesser need for their cash. Dividend stocks are popular among older investors because they produce a regular income, and the best stocks grow that dividend over time, so you can earn more than you would with the fixed payout of a bond. REITs are one popular form of dividend stock.

Risk/reward: While dividend stocks tend to be less volatile than growth stocks, don&#x;t assume they won&#x;t rise and fall significantly, best long term investments stocks, especially if the stock market enters a rough period. Best long term investments stocks, a dividend-paying company is usually more mature and established than a growth company and so it&#x;s generally considered safer. That said, if a dividend-paying company doesn&#x;t earn enough to pay its dividend, it will cut the payout, and its stock may plummet as a result.

The big appeal of a dividend stock is the payout, and some of the top companies pay 2 or 3 percent annually, sometimes more. But importantly they can raise their payouts 8 or 10 percent per year for long periods of time, so you&#x;ll get a pay raise, typically each year. The returns here can be high, best long term investments stocks, but won&#x;t usually be as great as with growth stocks. And if you&#x;d prefer to go with a dividend stock fund so that you can own a diversified set of stocks, you&#x;ll find plenty available.

5. Value stocks

With the market running up so much in the last couple years, valuations on many stocks have been stretched. When that happens, many investors turn to value stocks as a way to be more defensive and still potentially earn attractive returns.

Value stocks are those that are cheaper on certain valuation metrics such as a price-earnings ratio, a measure of how much investors are paying for every dollar of earnings. Value stocks are contrasted against growth stocks, which tend to grow faster and where valuations are higher.

Value stocks might be an attractive option in because they tend to do well when interest rates are rising, best long term investments stocks. And the Federal Reserve has indicated that it could raise rates this year.

Risk/reward: Value stocks often have less downside, so if the market falls, they tend to fall less. And if the market rises, they can still rise, too. Plus, they may be able to actually rise faster than other non-value stocks, if the market favors them again, pushing their valuations up. So the appeal of value stocks is that you can get above-average returns while taking on less risk.

Many value stocks also pay dividends, too, so you can get some extra return there, too.

6. Target-date funds

Target-date funds are a great option if you don&#x;t want to manage a portfolio yourself. These funds become more conservative as you best long term investments stocks, so that your portfolio is safer as you approach retirement, best long term investments stocks, when you&#x;ll need the money. These funds gradually shift your investments from more aggressive stocks to more conservative bonds as your target date nears.

Target-date funds are a popular choice in many workplace (k) plans, though you can buy them outside of those plans, too. You pick your retirement year and the fund does the rest.

Risk/reward: Target-date funds will have many of the same risks as stock funds or bond funds, since it&#x;s really just a combination of the two. If your target date is decades away, your fund will own a higher proportion of stocks, meaning it will be more volatile at first. As your target date nears, the fund will great sources of passive income toward bonds, so it will fluctuate less but also earn less.

Since a target-date fund gradually moves toward more bonds over time, it will typically start to underperform the stock market by a growing amount. Safe short term investments 2022 sacrificing return for safety. And since bonds are yielding less and less these days, best long term investments stocks, you have a higher risk of outliving earnings per share example income statement money.

To avoid this risk, some financial advisors recommend buying a target-date fund that&#x;s five or 10 years after when you actually plan to retire so that you&#x;ll have the extra growth from stocks.

7. Real estate

In many ways, real estate is the prototypical long-term investment. It takes a good bit of money to get started, the commissions are quite high, and the returns often come from holding an asset for a long time and rarely over just a few years. Still, real estate was Americans&#x; favorite long-term investment inaccording to one Bankrate study.

Real estate can be an attractive investment, in part because you can borrow the bank&#x;s money for most of the investment and then pay it back over time. That&#x;s especially popular as interest rates sit near attractive lows. For those who want to be their own boss, owning a property gives them that opportunity, best long term investments stocks, and there are numerous tax laws that benefit owners of property especially.

Stock markets such as the FTSE and S&P tanked following news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. Uncertainty over the consequences of the crisis has spooked investors and prompted a huge sell-off in stocks.

So is now a bad time to buy shares, or are there opportunities to be had while others are fearful?

In this article we set out:

Prefer to watch rather than read?

Here&#;s our video on investing during a crisis

Is now a good time to buy shares?

It all depends on what you buy. While the future of some companies look positive, the same can&#;t best long term investments stocks said for all businesses.

It&#;s important to do your research into each company you buy. Listed companies release their financial results which can give you a picture of the health of the company.

Also bear in mind that some sectors fared better than others during the pandemic. Broadly speaking, technology companies have done well while travel firms have suffered.

However, even tech companies are experiencing share price volatility. Take a company as famous as Facebook. The tech darling&#;s owner Meta Platforms saw its stock market value drop by more than $bn (£bn) on 3 February this year in what was a record daily stock market fall for a US firm.

Meta&#;s shares fell 26% after it announced daily active user numbers dropped for the first time in the company&#;s 18 year history, and they best long term investments stocks not yet recovered.

Remember:

• Don&#;t buy shares in a company just because someone said you should (always do your own research first)
• Selecting and monitoring individual shares is time-consuming
• You can buy investment funds or use a robo-adviser so that an expert investor can select shares on your behalf

If you&#;re new to investing, you might want to read our beginners&#; guide to investing first.

Why has the stock market dropped?

Most major stock markets dropped off a cliff on February 24 following news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. The crisis has caused huge amounts of uncertainty as investors worry this will spill over into the businesses they are invested in.

As a result, lots of investors sold their stocks. The FTSEthe index which measures the performance of the largest companies in the UK, dropped by % in the first few hours of trading that day.

It&#;s never a good idea to panic and sell stocks when the markets are falling best long term investments stocks there is a danger that you could end best long term investments stocks crystallising losses. We explain how to invest in volatile times later on in this article.

Also bear in mind that stock markets have been very volatile since the start of the pandemic.

While most restrictions in the UK have now been withdrawn, the art of making money plenty translation markets continue to wobble because of concerns about new waves of coronavirus, best long term investments stocks.

Is now a good time to invest?

Reasons to feel hopeful about the stock market:

• Successful booster vaccination roll-out has led to an increase in movement, trade and spending
• Industries that were hit by subsequent lockdowns, such as travel and entertainment, have reopened
• Takeovers will continue as investors and companies seek new opportunities
• Some sectors are booming: technology, e-commerce and biotech have thrived during the pandemic and will continue to grow
• Despite gradual increases, the UK&#;s best long term investments stocks interest rate is still low at %, which is encouraging people to spend or invest

Reasons to feel cautious about the stock market:

• The impact of the Ukraine crisis could hit global businesses
• Some nationals are still fearful over new strains of the coronavirus
• Rising inflation will weigh heavily, meaning people have less money in their pockets
• Disruption caused by the global energy crisis may continue for some time
• Brexit is still affecting supply chains
• Central banks are unwinding pandemic support measures

Crashes can come out of the blue best long term investments stocks their causes only become apparent with hindsight.

Find out more about how to invest during a recession.

When will the next stock market crash happen?

A stock market crash is a sudden and significant drop in the value of stocks.

Some stock market speculators panic and sell their shares fearing that if the price falls further, they could lose even more of the money they invested.

No one can accurately predict whether or not the stock market is going to crash. All you can do is evaluate which factors will influence the stock market and your particular investments. 

Bear in mind that when stocks rise rapidly, there is always a danger that they could fall just as quickly.

The FTSE share price, which measures the performance of the largest listed British companies, had been reaching fresh highs before plunging on news that Russia was invading Ukraine.

If you&#;d like to know more about today&#;s big investment trends, check out our guide here.

The ups and downs of the market

Beware of market volatility at the moment. The FTSEwhich measures the performance of the biggest companies in the UK, has been on an upwards trajectory over the past year but it has been a bumpy road to get there.

Netflix, Deliveroo, and Peloton are good examples of the fluctuations in share prices that you need to consider when investing.

The streaming service, best long term investments stocks, food delivery company and exercise equipment maker were seemingly three of the corporate winners of the coronavirus outbreak.

Below, we explain how their shares have performed over the past two years.

Upsides

• Netflix gained 16m new subscribers duringrevenues of $bn in April and predicted a better second quarter to the year
• Deliveroo has benefitted from a $m Amazon investment, increased customer engagement
• Peloton shares gained % through

Downsides

But none of these companies are immune to the negative affects of the pandemic or other headwinds:

• Netflix
  • Production of many new Netflix shows were halted
  • Competition in the sector notably from the newer players like Disney+
  • Lower than expected sign-ups best long term investments stocks the first quarter of

• Deliveroo
  • Yet to turn a easy ways to make money in nyc while its revenues grew 54% to £bn last year, the company made a loss of £m
  • Deliveroo shares fell 30% in the first 20 minutes of its listing on the London Stock Exchange on March 31,
  • Reliance on gig-economy workers at a time when they are being handed more legal best long term investments stocks share price has dropped by 82% to $29 from its peak of $ in December
  • A series of accidents with equipment led to the death of a child and the company announced a massive product recall
  • A victim of its own lockdown success, with supply chain problems
  • Peloton&#;s future is uncertain now gyms have reopened

These are good examples of why you need to weigh up the pros and cons of each company before you buy their shares.

You might want to read more in our article How to buy shares.

Here are eight things to consider:

1. Volatility

Equities can be very volatile when there is uncertainty and could pull back a lot if new variants of COVID are discovered that evade the vaccines. 

2. Context is everything

Just because something is not cheap it does not make it unattractive, best long term investments stocks.

Interest rates have risen but they are still very low. In this environment, businesses in growing markets with access to cheap money tend to do well and what you pay now best long term investments stocks look cheap in ten years.

3. Not all equities are the same

Some shares are in fact best long term investments stocks because they are over-hyped. This means they might fade away over the next few years.

4. Are you happy going against the crowd?

Investing when people are fearful is understandably daunting, particularly when there is so much uncertainty in the world.

But consider whether you believe will be in a better situation by the time you will want the money. Things can always get worse before they get better.

5. Investing is for the long-term

Remember a “loss” is only a loss when you sell the investments. Your decision depends on how quickly you’d need the money and whether you understand that shares can fall as well as rise. Can you stomach losing money should markets continue to fall?

6. Inflation

With interest rates still low at %, a savings account won’t help your money grow.

When you allow for inflation, which measures the rising cost of living and is currently at %, you’re almost guaranteed to be worse off.

Investing gives your money the best chance of growing.

7. Use a stocks and shares ISA

It&#;s a good idea to hold your shares in an ISA to protect your earnings from dividend tax and capital gains tax.

We explain: How are shares taxed?

8. Buy a pool of shares

If you would rather invest in a basket of shares rather than choosing them yourself, you could invest in a fund.

Some funds simply track a stock market like the S&Pwhich is an index measuring the biggest companies in the United States.

Why should you drip feed?

If you are thinking what shares to buy now, remember it is almost impossible to time the market perfectly to make the most of your money.

For example:

• Invest when markets are rising, you may have missed the boat for the best returns
• Invest when the markets falling, and they could fall a lot further still

Drip feeding your money in slowly, rather than best investment app for beginners it all in as one lump sum, removes this tricky decision.

This not only encourages a good savings habit. It smooths the investment journey by buying more units when markets are lower (known as pound cost-averaging)

How do you get dividends?

Dividends are what a company pays to shareholders when it makes a profit.

The pandemic has affected the cash position and growth of a number of businesses, which has impacted on the amount shareholders have received in dividends.

Throughout the UK’s biggest banks RBS, Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, and Standard Chartered all suspended dividend payments and share buybacks.

Dividend-paying stocks are often a popular choice to include in your investment portfolio. But remember, the dividends you earn might be subject to tax.

Four tips for investing during uncertain times

Here are our four golden rules when it comes to investing during a financial crisis:

1. Stay calm: the pandemic has stirred up a lot of emotions, but stay rational about your investments.
2. Consider your aims: investing is personal, best long term investments stocks. You choices depend on your circumstances, objectives, needs and risk tolerance, best long term investments stocks. The key is diversification
3. Use your tax relief: you can invest tax-free with an ISA. You can also get an instant uplift with a pension and a lifetime ISA, as the government will add extra cash whenever you pay in more money. We explain more about that here.
4. Drip-feed your money: if the markets go down further you’re buying at a cheaper level and it could help smooth out your returns, with the hope they recover and grow in the longer term. 

Best sectors to invest in

Making the most of a best long term investments stocks opportunity often means looking for firms that are well placed for any potential structural shifts.

Here are some sectors that are worth paying attention to:

• Fintech: companies that help people work remotely or pay for goods or services are worth investigating.
• Ecommerce: the pandemic has boosted online shopping as people continue to stay away from crowded malls and supermarkets.
• Renewable energy: a rapid fall in the cost of building renewable energy projects has happened at the same time as a greater awareness of the climate crisis. These assets provide reliable income streams, which are often backed by government subsidies. Read more in our guide to ethical investing.
• Online gaming: these businesses were among the most resistant to the Covid stock best long term investments stocks sell-off.
• Commodities: this includes precious metals such as gold and silver which are often seen as &#;safe&#; assets to hold during market turmoil (though remember all investments come with a degree of risk).
• Banks: the banks could be worth watching. Remember, banks have been through the financial crisis and may therefore fare better in an economic recovery than markets anticipate.
• Leisure sector: after months of isolation, people want to go out and spend. Restaurants and pubs with the strongest balance sheets might fare very well as they might have the opportunity to pick up cheap distressed assets from rivals that went bust.

Should you buy cheap British stocks?

One of the world’s biggest investment banks JP Morgan has been telling investors to buy British stocks now while they are cheap.

The investment firm had taken a bearish stance on British stocks since the EU referendum in June When compared to companies in the US and Europe, best long term investments stocks, UK shares have underperformed since the Brexit vote.

But JP Morgan has best long term investments stocks there are a few things that could change the fortunes of British stocks:

• UK shares have strong dividends
• Stock markets like the US and China are expected to struggle maintain their momentum going forward, best long term investments stocks, paving the way for the UK to outperform
• UK stocks have tended to rise in the months after an interest rate rise.

What are the stocks to invest in right now?

We have best long term investments stocks some companies below that might be worth considering. However, we always recommend that you do your own research before buying shares.

• Rolls Royce: the company makes engines for planes that embark on long-haul flights. With so many planes being grounded during the pandemic, the Rolls Royce share price suffered. However, things are looking more positive after it swung into profit.
• Avast: the cybersecurity group could be bought by an American rival. Analysts valued the FTSE company at £bn and suggested the business could end up in a bidding war. The news prompted the Avast share price to climb 17%.
• Wise: previously called Transferwise, it converts money into different currencies, but it has plans to branch into other areas of financial services.
• Nissan: the shares look interesting given its plans for an electric battery factory in Sunderland that is set to be worth £1bn.
• JD Sports share price rose after the company&#;s five-for-one share split at the end of November. JD is now valued at £bn, and after Tesco is Britain&#;s second most valuable shops group.  
• Beyond Meat&#;s share price rose on the news that the plant-based company&#;s chicken alternative will be available at Kentucky Best long term investments stocks Chicken (KFC) across the US. A number of other companies have also teamed up with Beyond Meat and it looks like the move towards vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets continues.
• Taylor Wimpey&#;s

1 of 22

Walt Disney

• Industry: Entertainment
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

If there were ever a company that has proven its ability to adapt in a hurry, it would be Walt Disney (DIS, $). The pandemic easily could have been Disney's undoing. Its theme parks were closed or had limited capacity for months, best long term investments stocks. Its movie business was dead on arrival. And even its ESPN sports programming business was upended by the canceling or curtailment of most professional sports for months.

And yet, "the old saying that 'luck favors the which cryptocurrency to invest in can be applied to Disney’s November launch of the Disney+ video service," says Argus Research analyst Joseph Bonner, best long term investments stocks, who rates DIS shares at Buy. Suddenly, tens of millions of bored, homebound people had the itch (and the time) to stream hours of Disney, Marvel and Star Wars content. 

Disney+ was an instant hit and absolutely crushed expectations, best long term investments stocks, sending Disney's shares sharply higher in However, DIS shares came back down to earth in and are off about 25% from their week highs. 

But here's the thing: Nothing has changed, best long term investments stocks. Disney+ is still emerging as the strongest competitor to Netflix (NFLX) and boasts a truly unrivaled catalog of content it's assembled over the decades. Disney's movie business is back, as evidenced by the flurry of Marvel superhero movies planned. And the theme parks … did you really think they'd stay down long?

"We expect EPS to double in FY22 as the company recovers from the pandemic, with more normal though still strong 17% growth in FY23," Bonner says.

At companies to invest in now uk prices, the communication stock trades at roughly the same levels it did immediately before the pandemic struck. But Disney's empire has only grown since then. That, and a share lull in latehas DIS poised to be one of the best stocks to buy for

2 of 22

Uber Technologies

• Industry: Application software
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

The Uber Technologies (UBER, $) ride-sharing platform operates in 63 countries and markets, connecting riders with drivers. Uber Eats triangulates customers, restaurants and drivers. The company also has an emerging freight best long term investments stocks up for Kiplinger's FREE Closing Bell e-letter: Our daily look at the stock market's most important headlines, and what moves investors should make.

Uber reached an important milestone in the third quarter ofturning a profit (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization expenses) for the first time. 

The company that pioneered "mobility as a service" is a top internet stock pick at BofA Global Research, especially as urban centers reopen post-pandemic.

Even though earnings per share remain likely to be negative inBofA analysts, citing the company's improved financial position, an increasing supply of drivers and market share gains, believe the stock could trade at $64 over the next 12 months – an 85% gain from current prices. That very likely would be enough to put it among 's best stocks.

3 of 22

LHC Group

• Industry: Medical care facilities
• Market best long term investments stocks $ billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

A few months ago, Kiplinger's Personal Finance columnist James A. Glassman recommended AB Small Cap Growth (QUASX): a fund that has notched a sensational % annualized return over the past best long term investments stocks years. 

Now, he's tapping QUASX for one of his best stocks to buy for

AB Small Cap Growth has been adding to holdings of Louisiana-based LHC Group (LHCG, $), a provider of post-acute care, including home health and hospice services, in more than locations. 

As the population ages, healthcare is a growth industry, best long term investments stocks. And the stock appears well priced after setbacks from hurricanes and because healthcare workers were forced to quarantine due to COVID 

4 of 22

IAC/InterActiveCorp

• Industry: Internet content and information
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

IAC/InterActiveCorp's (IAC, $) business is acquiring other businesses, improving their online operations, then spinning them off. Dating website www.oldyorkcellars.com and the video-sharing platform Vimeo are two recent rehab projects. The strategy generates huge amounts of cash intermittently, which the company pours into new ventures, but earnings can be lumpy. 

IAC's recent agreement to buy Meredith, the publishing company, may provide steadier recurring revenues as soon as "That's a cash cow," says David Marcus of Evermore Global Advisors. 

InterActiveCorp's shares are up 24% over the past 12 months, beating the S&P by 7 percentage points. But Marcus still sees value because he says the sum of the parts is worth more than the current price of IAC stock.

5 of 22

DXC Technology

• Industry: Information technology services
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Dan Abramowitz, of Hillson Financial Management in Rockville, Maryland, is Glassman's go-to expert in smaller companies.

Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice.

His choice for was IEC Electronics, which was purchased by Creation Technologies in October for 53% more than the stock's price when Glassman put it on the list, noting, "IEC is also a potential takeover target."

For the best stocks to buy forDan recommends DXC Technology (DXC, best long term investments stocks, $): a midsize in­formation technology company based in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. 

It is in the midst of a turnaround, Dan writes, "yet we are still in the early innings here." Profits are improving, but the stock "is valued at under 10 times current fiscal year earnings."

6 of 22

Alibaba Group

• Industry: Best long term investments stocks retail
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

A Chinese crackdown on big tech companies has weighed on shares of this e-commerce giant. China slapped a record $ billion fine on Alibaba Group (BABA, $) after an anti-monopoly probe last spring. All told, shares lost more than 60% between their October peak and the end of

Some analysts, best long term investments stocks, even bullish ones, have trimmed sales and earnings expectations given sluggish economic and e-commerce conditions in China. 

That said, GoodHaven Capital Management portfolio manager Larry Pitkowsky, who likes a bargain with good growth prospects, bought shares in with expectations that BABA might be among the best stocks to buy for

Alibaba is the leading e-commerce company in China. Growth going forward might be less robust, but shares are cheap and trade at times earnings estimates for best long term investments stocks a 66% discount to its long-term average forward price-earnings ratio of  

7 of 22

Littelfuse

• Industry: Electronic components
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

The more technology pervades our life, the more Littelfuse (LFUS, $) stands to gain. The firm designs and makes fuses and circuits – small but necessary components – for consumer electronics, cars and industrial equipment. 

Cars these days come with heated seats, power steering, lane change assistance and a heated steering wheel, among an increasing list of other things. Each feature requires its own fuse and circuit. Plus, Littelfuse dominates both the electronics and auto markets. 

The stock is off 19% inbut Robert W. Baird Equity Research analyst Luke Junk still sees upside for shares, especially when auto production returns to normal and supply-chain bottlenecks clear.

"Net, we see a good setup for GARP-focused investors inwith the stock gain offering more attractive upside and valuation following recent market-related weakness," he says.

8 of 22

Freeport-McMoRan

• Industry: Copper mining
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities Fund (FAGAX) is red-hot, ranking in the top 3% of funds in its category for five-year returns as of the end of The problem is that it carries a whopping % expense ratio and is sold mostly through advisers. 

Still, you can scan its port­folio for ideas. 

Most of the fund's holdings are tech stocks, but the only new purchase for among its top 25 holdings was Freeport-McMoRan (FCX, $), the minerals (copper, gold, silver) and oil and gas producer. 

The stock climbed 61% in But its P/E ratio, based on analysts' consensus projections forremains a reasonable That, combined with an influx of Washington spending via the $ trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, could put FCX among the best stocks for

9 of 22

Charles Schwab

• Industry: Capital markets
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

There's little in financial services that Charles Schwab (SCHW, $) doesn't do. It's a brokerage firm, a money manager, corporate retirement plan administrator and best long term investments stocks bank. And it has been gobbling up assets under management (AUM) with new accounts and acquisitions. Its TD Ameritrade acquisition pushed total AUM to $ trillion.

Rising interest rates will be icing on the cake in Every percentage-point improvement in rates means another $ million to $ million in earnings, or about 30 to 38 cents per share, says portfolio manager Andy Adams at Mairs & Power Growth Fund (MPGFX). 

Wall Street analysts project that annual earnings will climb 12% in the new year, and even more in Just note that unlike some of 's other top stock picks, Schwab is not exactly cheap. At $89, SCHW trades at 23 times year-ahead earnings. 

10 of 22

Oshkosh

• Industry: Farm and heavy construction machinery
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

There's infinite numbers of things we don't know yet about That's part of the appeal of a new year: that blank slate and thrill of the unknown. 

But we do know this: Our government just passed into law one of the largest infrastructure bills of the past several decades. So, whatever happens inwe can expect to see a lot of money flowing into infrastructure-related spending. 

This should be a boon to Oshkosh (OSK, $). Oshkosh builds specialty trucks like cement mixers, truck mounted cranes, "cherry pickers" and other hydraulic lifting systems. Any major expansion in infrastructure spending will mean demand for Oshkosh's products. 

But apart from immediate infrastructure spending, Oshkosh is interesting for another significant reason. It's a leader in heavy-duty electric vehicles. 

President Biden was forced to scale back some of his green ambitions in the infrastructure bill and the companion social spending bill. But renewable energy is still a major policy priority, and the Biden administration awarded a contract to Oshkosh to update the mail truck fleet in part with electric trucks. 

If you believe in a greener future, Oshkosh is a good way to indirectly play it long term. And thanks to some froth coming off in the back half ofOSK could be one of the best stocks to buy for

11 of 22

AmerisourceBergen

• Industry: Medical distribution
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

AmerisourceBergen (ABC, $) distributes pharmaceutical products in the U.S. and internationally. Customers include retail and mail-order pharmacies, hospital networks, outpatient facilities, long-term care facilities and veterinarian practices. 

Nine of 15 firms who cover the stock recommend it, with CFRA particularly bullish, rating the shares a Strong Buy. Analyst Garrett Nelson best long term investments stocks aging baby boomers, rapid biologic drug development and strong pet ownership trends are driving demand for the company's drugs.

Nelson said in that the stock could trade at $ over the next 12 months – a target that assumed a conservative price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just over 12, which is a steep discount to the stock's year average P/E of ABC has neared that inprompting the analyst to lift his price target to $, implying another 16% of upside.

Potential risks include drug-price regulation and opioid best long term investments stocks of 22

American Water Works

• Industry: Water utilities
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

Founded inAmerican Water Works (AWK, $) is a water utility that sells water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. 

Argus Research analyst John Staszak says he expects results to benefit from rate increases and from efforts to lower operating and maintenance costs as a percentage of best investment rate of return uk. Moreover, the company has significant opportunities to acquire smaller, less efficient utilities. 

The stock is not cheap, selling at 33 times Argus's estimate of $ a share in earnings for However, "we think that a higher multiple is warranted given the company's skill as an acquirer, strong regulated businesses, and history of dividend increases," Staszak says.

This is a much more defensive pick than many of the other top stocks for However, Argus's price target of $, combined with the dividend, implies a potential month total return of about 32%. That would be a stellar year for most utility plays.

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Prologis

• Industry: Industrial real estate
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

There are certain trends that were best long term investments stocks place long before anyone had ever heard of COVID and will be around long after the current omicron variant is moneymakeredge best long term investments stocks memory. The rise of e-commerce is one of them. www.oldyorkcellars.com (AMZN) and its brethren are taking over the world. 

But knowing this, why shouldn't we profit from it as Amazon's landlord?

Lucky for us, we can. Prologis (PLD, $), best long term investments stocks, a real estate investment trust (REIT), is the industry leader in logistical real estate. It also happens to be a major landlord to Amazon and other e-tailers. 

Internet shopping is sleek. It feels clean and modern. But none of those mouse clicks amount to anything without the underlying infrastructure to actually fulfill the orders. That's where Prologis steps in.

To put some real numbers to it, a shocking % of the world's GDP – or more than $ trillion – already flows through Prologis properties. And as e-commerce continues to grow as a percentage of the total, it's a good bet that Prologis will grow right along with it. The company already owns nearly a billion square feet of space in properties spread best long term investments stocks 19 countries with an occupancy rate of %. 

Prologis is not just one of the best stocks to buy for It's one of the best stocks to buy and hold for the next 20 years. Shares yield %, which is only slightly better than the market. But PLD has more than doubled its payout since

14 of 22

Bank of America

• Industry: Diversified banks
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: best long term investments stocks assets of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Warren Buffett's holding company, have become more and more best long term investments stocks over the years. At last report, the company owned 40 publicly traded stocks. 

  Berkshire Hathaway's largest holding by far is Apple (AAPL), at about 43% of the equity portfolio. Guess what's second? Bank of America (BAC, $), at nearly 15%.

  Glassman says he is a longtime fan and shareholder of BofA as well. Financial stocks in general could be among the best stocks to buy for given the potential for interest rates to rise. BAC, which trades at less than 15 times next year's earnings estimates despite a 54% rally over the past 12 months, looks especially good.

15 of 22

Starbucks

• Industry: Restaurants
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

Glassman’s contrarian bias paid off in when he shook off his disastrous choice of Diamond Offshore Drilling (it went bankrupt) and scored a double with Oneok (OKE). 

Searching for value again, he has arrived at Starbucks (SBUX, $), which took a big (and to his mind, unwarranted) hit over the summer when the company warned of a slower recovery in China. 

Glassman is “taking advantage of skittish investors” and recommending Starbucks, one of the world's best-run companies, growing steadily with 33, outlets worldwide.

16 of 22

CVS Health

• Industry: Pharmacy and healthcare plans
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

Most Americans live within three miles of a CVS pharmacy. But CVS Health (CVS, $) is more than a drugstore; it's an integral player in each link of the entire health chain. 

"You get your jab at where to invest now in south africa pharmacy and while you're there, you might pop in best long term investments stocks Minute Clinic for a minor ailment and buy Tootsie Rolls on your way out," says John Buckingham, editor of The Prudent Speculator. 

Its Caremark division is a major drug distributor, and its healthcare benefits subsidiary Aetna serves 39 million people. Plus, this top stock for trades at less than 13 times expected earnings for the year ahead – a discount to its year average forward P/E of

17 of 22

Public Storage

• Industry: Industrial real estate
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

Another Glassman choice comes from a Schwab Global Real Estate Fund (SWASX) holding: Singapore-based UOL Group (UOLGY), with an office, residential and hotel portfolio. 

The fund's third-largest holding is Public Storage (PSA, $), owner of 2, facilities in 38 states, and Glassman likes it as one of his best stocks to buy in  

“Is there a better business? Every year, I get an e-mail notice telling me my storage-unit rental has risen in price, best long term investments stocks, and what am I going to do about it? Moving my stuff out is a horrifying thought,” Glassman says. “I have always wanted to own this stock. It is expensive, but waiting might make it more so.”

18 of 22

T. Rowe Price

• Industry: Asset management
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

The Value Line Investment Survey is a font of succinct research that has a strong forecasting record as well. One of Glassman’s strategies is to pick from stocks that Value Line rates tops ("1") for both timeliness and safety. At the end ofthat list was short: nine companies, including obvious ones such as Apple (AAPL) and Visa (V).

The outlier is T. Rowe Price (TROW, $), the Baltimore-based asset manager, whose earnings have risen each year since despite the growing popularity of low-cost index funds. 

Value Line notes that "shares have staged a dramatic advance over the past year. However, our projections suggest … worthwhile appreciation potential for the next three to five years."

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Crown Castle International

• Industry: Specialty real estate
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

Let's ask a rhetorical question here: Do you see yourself using more mobile data, or less, in the years ahead?

You really don't need to answer that. We all know the answer. Unless you decide to go live off the grid, you're going to use more data.

That brings us to Crown Castle International (CCI, $), best long term investments stocks, how to make money at blackjack real estate investment trust specializing in cell towers. The REIT owns a network of more than 40, cell towers, more than 80, small cells (such as those used for 5G) and approximately 80, route miles of fiber cable. Crown Castle has a presence in every major U.S. market and has been in this basic line of work for more than best long term investments stocks years. 

will see the continued growth in "smart everything": the smart home, the internet of things, best long term investments stocks, autonomous driving and even the smart city. All of this requires data and the communications infrastructure to collect it and process it. And Crown Castle will be smack-dab in the middle of this trend. 

At current prices, CCI yields how to make money from home legit little more than 3%. And importantly, the REIT is a serial dividend raiser, having boosted its payout at a 9% compound annual rate since establishing it in  

CCI could be among the best stocks for and much farther down the road. Barring the introduction of some new revolutionary technology that suddenly makes towers obsolete, it's hard to imagine any scenario in which Crown Castle doesn't enjoy a solid decade ahead.

20 of 22

Realty Income

• Industry: Retail real estate
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

After the breakneck tech- and growth-focused bull market of the past several years, we might be looking at a different kind of market in  

Tiring of the volatility, investors may prefer the tortoise over the hare.

And that's where triple-net retail REIT Realty Income (O, $) really stands to shine. Realty Income is a landlord specializing in high-traffic retail properties that are generally immune to competition from e-commerce. Its largest tenants are convenience stores, pharmacies and dollar stores, but it also has a healthy allocation to restaurants (approximately 8% of portfolio), movie theaters (approximately 5%) and to health and fitness properties including gyms (approximately 6%).

Realty Income's stock price got beaten up during the pandemic, best long term investments stocks, and the shares have yet to fully recover. But it's important to point out that the REIT's diversification and conservative business model allowed it to get through the pandemic without any real risk to its business. Realty Income actually managed to raise its dividend every single quarter of and  

It's difficult to see anything but a worst-case scenario with omicron or another COVID variant having much of an impact here.

Realty Income best long term investments stocks paid consecutive monthly dividends and has raised its payout for 97 consecutive quarters as of this writing, and those numbers seem likely to only grow in the months ahead. On top of that, Realty Income yields more than 4% at current prices.

Come what may inRealty Income seems like a solid bet.

21 of 22

Chevron

• Industry: Integrated oil and gas
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

We might hope for a greener future. But good old-fashioned oil and gas is still what keeps the global economy moving.

Many of the growth and tech names that lead the bull market of the past decade look stretched. So investors scouting out the top stocks to buy for might look to more traditional value plays in

Energy supermajor Chevron (CVX, $) fits the bill.

CVX trades for 13 times expected earnings and sports a dividend yield of more than 4%. That's remarkably cheap in a market that, by several measures, is the most expensive it has been since the bubble years of the late s. 

Energy stocks are unloved and under-owned. As recently as 10 years ago, the energy sector made up 13% of the S&P Today, they make up about 2%. Some of this is due to green mandates to diversify away from oil and gas, though most is simply due to the fact that energy stocks have endured a truly miserable oversupplied market since late  

But here's the thing: No market stays oversupplied forever. And the brutal environment of the past several years forced many marginal operators out of business and many marginal projects offline. And as a result, today we have a healthier market. Supply and demand are in balance, and energy prices enjoyed a nice bounce in (and have continued the momentum into ).

Time will tell whether this trend continues. Additional COVID variants could pop up and dampen demand for oil. But several analysts outfits see higher oil prices in the new year, including the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, who sees a 17% to 31% rise to between $85 and $95 per barrel. 

And who wouldn't want to own a shares of a true survivor trading at a major discount to an otherwise expensive market?

22 of 22

EPR Properties

• Industry: Retail real estate
• Market value: $ billion
• Dividend yield: %

The last of our 22 best stocks to buy for is the one with the highest dividend yield: EPR Properties (EPR, $).

News of the omicron variant really spooked the market following Thanksgiving weekend After months of painstaking efforts to reopen the world following the COVID pandemic, here was the possibility that it might all go into reverse. 

What we've learned since then is that omicron is more contagious, but less lethal, than previous strains. And while it caused a massive spike in new COVID cases, politicians have had little appetite for a return to large-scale lockdowns. Barring a major turn for the worse, the reopening trade should re-emerge.

That's great news for EPR – a REIT that owns a diverse portfolio of properties centered around entertainment and experiences. Theme parks. Ski resorts. Even Topgolf driving ranges. And all of these businesses were booming before the pandemic knocked them of course. 

But perhaps none of EPR's holdings took more abuse than its movie theaters, which currently make up about 44% of revenues. Theaters were closed for much of the pandemic, and to the extent they were open, there was nothing to watch. We only started seeing major releases in theaters again in recent months, best long term investments stocks. And in fact, EPR has plans to reduce its exposure to this business in the years ahead.

InAmericans relished doing all of the things they couldn't do in We're going to see a continuation of that theme inand EPR is very well placed to benefit. The shares still trade well before their pre-COVID levels and yield a fat 6%-plus.

If you see life getting increasingly back to normal init makes sense to own EPR.

Charles Sizemore was long CCI, O and PLD as of this writing.