While not everyone desires to see their name on a "rich list", nearly everyone does desire to have enough money to have the freedom to do what they want, when they want!
Hopefully you've already taken control of your finances and have been busily setting a course to achieve a comfortable, financially secure future which will allow you to live the life you want…if you haven't, the good news is it's not too late, there's no better time than 2015!
Beating the market
One of the most important decisions you must make as an equity investor who is setting out to achieve financial freedom is whether you are happy to achieve the market average or if you will attempt to beat the market.
Thankfully even just being 'average' – with the help of compounding – should in the long-term allow you to grow rich. If however your aim is to supercharge your portfolio's performance and beat the average, you can't simply rely on an index fund, rather you need to be a stock picker – and a good one at that!
Here are three stocks which could help you on your way to riches in 2015.
AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) – As one of Australia's largest and most successful wealth management companies, AMP is in a strong position to continue to benefit from a rising superannuation pool. Even more compelling however is AMP's expansion into China, which is already yielding early successes but could have much further growth ahead of it.
BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) – This mining giant really is The Big Australian with an incredibly diversified portfolio of tier one resource assets. While the cycle has obviously turned and commodity prices will not be headed back to their highs of yester-year anytime soon, the contrarian opportunity which BHP is currently offering investors could make it a great bet for 2015.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) – As the owner of some of the best retailing franchises in Australia including Bunnings, Officeworks and Coles, a shareholding in Coles provides investors with an attractive portfolio of defensive assets. Although consumer spending data may be weak at present, a long-term view of the competitive advantage of Wesfarmers could make the current share price weakness an attractive buying opportunity.