Investing Long Term

[robertbanking]

Hello, hope you are doing well.

I am wanting to learn more about long term stock investing, as i have a few friends and family members i want to support with a few debt issues. How do you analyse balance sheets of companies to determine their future growth potential please? What are the most important factors to kindly look at to see if a company is a good long term investment please?

Thank you for any replies and advice you can give, even if its only brief. Thank you very much.

 

[CavaliereVerde]

 

[CavaliereVerde]

Proof of concept and ability to scale.
Smart and honest CEO.

 

[tomorton]

I regard long-term stock investing to be a riddle - the time horizon should be multi-decades, but is any company in 20 years or 30 years from now the same company with the same management and the same financial pros and cons and the same competitors etc. - 'course not. So how do you choose?

My recommendation for a single long-term investment would be an ETF derived from the Dow or S&P500 index values, such as iShares.

For individual stocks, just buy a bunch of shares in the 5 biggest FTSE100 members at the end of each year and keep re-investing the dividends. Sell a stock if it drops beyond a certain percentage and replace it with No.6 etc. etc.

 

[1nvest]

i have a few friends and family members i want to support with a few debt issues

someone with debt issues shouldnt be anywhere near stocks. Just my opinion, but with volatility of individual shares you're asking for trouble.
Tom's suggestion below would be the best bet. should you really want to invest in equity

My recommendation for a single long-term investment would be an ETF derived from the Dow or S&P500 index values, such as iShares.

However, and going back to the original issue of investing where risk is at a premium, i wouldnt be using equity at all.
go for an equity like alternative such as corporate bonds, with far less volatility. you dont have the returns as equity but you'll sort out your debt issues

 

[CavaliereVerde]

Agreed, I was missing it, investing is not a way to pay debts.
Loans for investing are a very bad idea, you are not running those businesses, you are trusting someone else.
Index investing makes sense but won't make you rich, the best case scenario would be doubling your money in 10 years, and doubling your money doesn't change your life.

 

[CavaliereVerde]

I regard long-term stock investing to be a riddle - the time horizon should be multi-decades, but is any company in 20 years or 30 years from now the same company with the same management and the same financial pros and cons and the same competitors etc. - 'course not. So how do you choose?

I agree it is impossible to forcast 20-30 years.
What I think is possible is to find some companies that will face a signifcant growth in the next 5-10 years.

 

[Farm Yard Forex]

Are you set on investing long term individual stocks are you open to investing in ETFs or Index Funds? Might be quicker and easier and crucially gets your started sooner so you get that all important time in the market