Five Stocks to Hold Forever and Ever: My Timeless Investment Strategy

For years, I actively traded in and out of different stocks, constantly repositioning my portfolio based on market movements and quarterly results. But I noticed something revealing: the stocks that delivered the most substantial returns were the ones I held through multiple market cycles. This observation prompted a fundamental shift in my approach. I transitioned to a buy-and-hold strategy, and the results spoke for themselves. Today, I rarely exit positions—and when I do, it’s only when the fundamental thesis underlying the investment has genuinely changed. Within my portfolio, however, there exists a special category: five holdings I don’t plan to sell forever and ever, because I genuinely don’t anticipate my long-term convictions about these companies changing.

The Unshakeable Tech Giants: Infrastructure and Ecosystem Plays

Amazon: The Perpetual Day 1 Company

When assembling my forever and ever portfolio, Amazon stood at the top of my list. Founder Jeff Bezos established a unique corporate culture where every day feels like the company’s first day in business. This “Day 1” mentality ensures that Amazon continuously innovates rather than resting on past accomplishments.

The most compelling evidence of this philosophy’s value is Amazon Web Services (AWS). This division generated $93 billion in revenue during the first nine months of 2025 and represented 59% of the company’s total operating profit. AWS transformed from a side project into a profit powerhouse, demonstrating how Amazon’s innovation culture converts ideas into shareholder value.

Looking ahead, Amazon isn’t slowing down. The company is launching satellite-based internet services to serve underconnected regions. Consumer robotics represent another frontier—a market that could eventually rival AWS in scale if executed properly. For a company with enormous financial resources and an institutional commitment to “Day 1” thinking, the growth runway appears virtually limitless.

Apple: Building the Next Evolution of Its Ecosystem

Apple represents my largest individual stock position, and I haven’t sold a single share in years—a decision I deeply regret not making sooner. Warren Buffett captured my sentiment precisely when he called Apple “probably the best business I know in the world.” The company constructed an extraordinarily powerful ecosystem centered on the iPhone, creating switching costs and customer loyalty that competitors struggle to replicate.

While predicting the specific form of Apple’s business three decades from now would be foolish, I’m confident the company will dominate emerging technology categories. Augmented reality eyeglasses represent one such opportunity. Additionally, 6G wireless networks—arriving in the next decade—will enable capabilities like holographic communication, and Apple will undoubtedly capture significant revenue from this transition. The company’s track record of leading markets it enters suggests these bets will pay off handsomely.

Diversified Investment Power: The Conglomerate Approach

Berkshire Hathaway: Preserving a Legacy Beyond Its Founder

Although Warren Buffett stepped down from the CEO position, Berkshire Hathaway remains his ultimate legacy. Some investors worried that his departure would fundamentally alter the company, but this concern appears misplaced. New CEO Greg Abel speaks and thinks in ways remarkably consistent with Buffett’s philosophy. His early decisions suggest the investment and operational framework Buffett built remains intact.

Moreover, Berkshire’s diversified portfolio—a collection of wholly-owned operating businesses combined with publicly traded stock positions—continues to provide downside protection while maintaining upside exposure. This diversification hasn’t diluted returns in the past and shows no signs of doing so in the future. For investors seeking perpetual holdings, Berkshire’s blend of value discipline and strategic diversification makes it an ideal forever and ever asset.

Healthcare Innovation: Where Medicine Meets Technology

Intuitive Surgical: Riding the Robotics and Demographics Wave

Healthcare systems worldwide face an unprecedented demographic challenge: aging populations requiring increasing volumes of surgical procedures. This structural trend alone creates a compelling case for Intuitive Surgical, the global leader in robotic surgical systems.

But the opportunity extends far beyond demographic tailwinds. The company estimates that 8 million surgical procedures across its current product portfolio represent candidates for robotic assistance. However, accounting for products still in development and awaiting regulatory approval, this figure expands to 22 million. As the technology continues advancing—becoming more precise, more intuitive, and more cost-effective—that total could swell even further. For a company positioned at the intersection of aging populations and technological progress, the runway for growth appears virtually endless.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals: From Specialization to Diversification

At first glance, including a biotech stock in a forever and ever portfolio seems counterintuitive. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, however, operates differently from typical drug companies. The firm effectively holds a monopoly in treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. It just strengthened this position with Alyftrek, representing the most effective CF therapy to date.

What distinguishes Vertex for long-term holders is its strategic expansion beyond a single disease. The company pioneered Casgevy, a gene-editing therapy opening entirely new treatment frontiers. More recently, it launched Journavx, a non-opioid pain medication addressing a critical healthcare need. Looking forward, Vertex is advancing povetacicept for IgA nephropathy, a kidney disease affecting roughly 330,000 patients across the U.S. and Europe—nearly three times the CF patient population.

Additional pipeline candidates include inaxaplin for APOL1-mediated kidney disease and zimislecel for Type 1 diabetes. What excites me most, however, is Vertex’s demonstrated capacity to apply its scientific expertise to solve previously intractable diseases. The company has built a culture of innovation and scientific rigor that should generate value for decades to come.

The Philosophy Behind Forever Holdings

These five positions represent more than individual stock picks—they embody a philosophy about sustainable wealth creation. Each company demonstrates: (1) competitive advantages that are difficult to erode, (2) management teams committed to long-term value creation rather than quarterly results optimization, and (3) structural growth drivers that should persist for years or decades.

For investors committed to the buy-and-hold approach, identifying such forever and ever holdings can dramatically simplify portfolio management while dramatically improving results. The data supports this approach: Stock Advisor’s long-term average return stands at 955% compared to 196% for the S&P 500—a gap that compounds powerfully over decades.

Rather than chasing the latest market trends, the surest path to prosperity involves identifying exceptional businesses and holding them indefinitely.