A long-term investment strategy entails holding investments for more than a full year. This strategy includes holding assets like bonds, stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and more. Individuals who take a long-term approach require discipline and patience, That's because investors must be able to take on a certain amount of risk while they wait for higher rewards down the road.
Investing in stocks and holding them is one of the best ways to grow wealth over the long term. For example, the S&P 500 experienced annual losses in only 11 of the 47 years from 1975 to 2022, demonstrating that the stock market generates returns much more often than it doesn't.