If You Could Only Hold 3 Investments for Life, Consider These

Key Points

• Long-term success comes from investing in companies with strong fundamentals, consistent growth, and resilience in all market conditions.
• Dividend stocks like Coca-Cola and healthcare leaders like Stryker offer stability and reliable returns, making them ideal for buy-and-hold investors.
• A broad-based ETF like iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV) provides diversification and long-term market exposure, helping investors build wealth with less risk.

Warren Buffett, who is known to own “forever stocks,” has famously quipped that if you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, you shouldn’t own it for even 10 minutes. 

This idea prompts a good thought exercise: If you could only make a few investments to help you achieve the portfolio growth you’ll need in retirement, which ones would you pick?

How to Find Investments Built for Long-Term Success

To start, you'll want to analyze the long-term trajectory. Remember that a performance chart tells a story, and when you zoom out, you want to see a line that moves up and to the right in a consistent curve. A chart pattern like that should give you the confidence that you’ve found an investment that can give you safe, secure growth.

Of course, past performance isn’t always a predictor of future performance. But when you consider everything that has happened in our economy in just the last 20 years, past performance indicates which companies have shown they can reward investors no matter what’s happening in the markets.

3 Investments to Build Wealth for a Lifetime

Certain investments have proven their ability to deliver long-term value, whether it’s a company with an iconic brand, a leader in a growing industry, or a broad-based ETF offering instant diversification.

Here are three standout investments to consider buying and holding for a lifetime.

1. Coca-Cola: A Buffett-Backed Dividend Powerhouse

The Coca-Cola Company NYSE: KO is one of Warren Buffett’s most well-known holdings, and for good reason. As a Dividend King, Coca-Cola has increased its dividend for 62 consecutive years—a compelling reason alone to consider owning KO stock.

In addition, Coca-Cola has delivered a total return (share price appreciation + dividends) of 490% over the last 20 years. That’s better than its rival PepsiCo Inc. NASDAQ: PEP, which has returned about 396% over that same period, even factoring in a 2-for-1 stock split in 2012.

As a consumer staples stock, Coca-Cola and its shareholders benefit from its defensive nature—consumers continue buying its products in both strong and weak economic environments. Despite a challenging three years for the sector, KO stock has still managed to deliver a total return of about 26% over that period, proving its resilience.

2. Stryker: Capitalizing on the Future of Healthcare

Stryker Corp. NYSE: SYK is a leading medical technology company with a strong presence in medical and surgical equipment, neurotechnology, and orthopedics. The United States is well into a period known as the Aging of America, and healthcare expenses are expected to increase sharply as the Baby Boomer generation retires.

One attribute of many buy-and-hold stocks is a solid balance sheet, and Stryker delivers. The company has shown a consistent pattern of revenue, net income, and free cash flow growth. In 2023, Stryker targeted organic sales growth of around 11% per year.

One of its key strategies is growth through acquisition. In February 2025, Stryker acquired Inari Medical Inc. NASDAQ: NARI, which gives Stryker a foothold in the fast-growing field of venous thromboembolism (VTE) clot removal.

Stryker’s performance speaks for itself—over the past 20 years, SYK stock has delivered a total return of 853%, outperforming the S&P 500 and reinforcing its status as a premier healthcare stock.

3. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF: A Proven Market-Beating Giant

Picking an exchange-traded fund (ETF) to own for a lifetime can be tricky. While ETFs offer built-in diversification, they also include stocks you might not choose individually.

However, if your investing philosophy prioritizes stability and long-term growth, the iShares Core S&P ETF NYSEARCA: IVV is hard to beat. 

This ETF is indexed to the S&P 500, an index that has historically delivered an average annual return of 12% since 1950. Over the past 10 years, IVV has returned 232.18%, nearly doubling the long-term historical average and slightly outperforming the widely followed SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust NYSEARCA: SPY.

The fund's holdings are weighted based on the total float-adjusted market value of their outstanding shares. As of March 2025, technology stocks made up over 30% of the fund’s allocation, with all of the Magnificent 7 stocks ranking among its top 10 holdings. 

This exposure to high-growth companies, combined with the stability of the broader market, makes IVV a compelling choice for long-term investors seeking steady, diversified growth.