Nine stocks to buy and hold forever

Time in the sharemarket is the biggest advantage available to young investors. The younger the investor, the more time they have to earn life-changing capital gains by staying invested in the market over the long term.

The very best business may be able to sustain compound growth rates of 18 per cent per year, which means an investment will double in value after four years, quadruple after eight years, jump eight-fold over 12 years, and 16-fold over 16 years. Even if a retail investor returns 12 per cent a year over 10 or 20 years, the profits can lead to generational wealth.