Earlier this week the Reserve Bank held interest rates at the record low of 1.5% for another month.
Unfortunately for savers I think a rate rise is some way off and that there is even an outside chance that rates could yet go lower before they go higher.
So if I had $10,000 sitting in a high-interest savings account, I would consider investing it in the share market.
After all, Australian shares have provided investors with an average return of 9.1% per annum over the last 30 years according to research by Fidelity.
This means that a $10,000 investment 30 years ago would now be worth a staggering $136,000 today.
With that in mind, here are three shares I think could be great long-term buy and hold investment options today:
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)
I believe Altium will be a big winner from the rise of the Internet of Things. As the majority of these connected devices require printed circuit boards (PCB) inside them, I expect demand for Altium's PCB design software will grow strongly. Management certainly believes it will and expects to double revenue to US$200 million by 2020.
Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)
This online travel agent could be the Australian share market's ultimate growth share in my opinion. Thanks to market share gains and bookings growth from all of its businesses, Webjet recently reported a 96% jump in half-year net profit after tax. I remain confident that there will be more of the same in the second half.
XERO FPO NZX (ASX: XRO)
Xero is a provider of cloud-based accounting software for small to medium enterprises. Although the space is extremely competitive, the company has been growing its user numbers at an extraordinarily quick rate and just broke through the 1 million mark for subscribers. Despite this stellar growth, I still believe there is a significant opportunity for the company to grow globally.
