"Buy and hold" is a simple strategy for investors, but it can be a hard one to stick to in actual practice. That's because many people want to pick stocks and trade them, and feel like they need to actively intervene to generate significant gains. But often, just leaving your investments alone is the best thing to do.
Take the three stocks listed below as examples. A $1,000 investment into each of them 20 years ago would now be worth more than $100,000. Not every long-term investment will turn out that way, but investing a modest amount of money in growth stocks and letting it sit can be your best financial move.
Retirees on the lookout for some reliable dividend stocks can find plenty of attractive buying opportunities in the markets today. The stocks listed here can provide you with high yields and be safe investments to just buy and forget about, regardless of what's happening in the market.
Three stocks which I'd recommend retirees consider adding to their portfolios today are AbbVie (ABBV -6.70%), ExxonMobil (XOM -5.66%), and Kimberly-Clark (KMB 0.81%). They have all generated positive gains this year, as buyers have been flocking to them as safe-haven investments. Here's a look at why these can be great stocks to buy and hold for the long run.
NYSE: ABBV
Key Data Points
AbbVie
Pharma stock AbbVie provides investors with an above-average yield of 3.2%, which is more than double the current S&P 500 average of 1.3%. The company has been increasing its dividend for years, and that streak extends to more than 50 years if you include the time when it was part of Abbott Laboratories. Since the spinoff in 2013, the dividend has skyrocketed by 310%.
AbbVie's business is diverse, featuring products in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, aesthetics, and neuroscience. The only one of those areas that didn't generate positive year-over-year growth in 2024 was aesthetics (down 2%). However, as demand for weight loss drugs continues to soar, there could also be much stronger demand for Botox (which is part of the segment), potentially making this a much better growth catalyst in the future.
AbbVie is a top stock to own in healthcare. Trading at 17 times its future earnings, based on analyst expectations, it's also a fairly cheap option to add to your portfolio.
NYSE: XOM
Key Data Points
ExxonMobil
Another top dividend growth stock is oil and gas producer ExxonMobil. Its current yield is a bit higher at 3.4%. It also has an impressive streak going: The company has boosted its payout for 42 consecutive years, with the latest being a 4% bump.
There can be volatility in the company's earnings results due to the price of oil, but over the years, ExxonMobil has become more efficient and been able to do well despite challenging economic and industry conditions. The oil and gas giant has reported a profit of more than $30 billion in each of the past three years. And as it looks to secure more cost savings, it's targeting a 10% annual growth rate in its bottom line through to 2030.
There will be some risk and volatility with the stock. But with a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 15, you can buy it at a reasonable price with what looks like a decent margin of safety.
NYSE: KMB
Key Data Points
Kimberly-Clark
Last but not least on this list is Kimberly-Clark. Its 3.6% yield is the highest of the three stocks listed here, and with an extremely low beta value of less than 0.40, there's a lot of stability which comes with this investment.
Earlier this year, the company announced a 3.3% increase to its dividend, extending its streak of annual increases to 53 years, which means it's the second stock on this list to also be a Dividend King.
The company has many well-known consumer brands in its portfolio, including Cottonelle, Huggies, and Kleenex, which customers all over the world rely on every day. That consistency and stability can make it one of the safer consumer goods stocks to hold, even if you're worried about a downturn in the markets.
This isn't much of a growth stock -- Kimberly-Clark's annual sales have hovered around $20 billion in each of the past three years. But if you're a retiree who values stability, this can be a solid stock to just buy, hold, and collect a dividend from.
