It's a great idea to put some of the family money into the share market. It has proven to be the best place to create wealth over the long-term.
I think it's a particularly good idea because you don't need to take on hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to invest, unlike property.
If you're investing for your family, you don't need to take huge unnecessary risk. Nor should investing in 'big' businesses be the only consideration. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is the biggest, but it isn't the safest and definitely doesn't offer much growth.
You could take the simple route and go for a quality exchange-traded index fund (ETF) like the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV).
There are also perfectly good smaller businesses that are household names and have good growth potential. For example:
a2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)
The products of a2 Milk are everywhere. Milk, ice cream and of course formula are popular with families across Australia.
Somehow a2 Milk has turned basic staple products into quality branded items. This gives the business good pricing power and commands loyalty due to its a2 protein offering, unlike most milk products out there.
It has been a tremendous growth business over the past few years and Chinese demand has sent the profit skyrocketing.
However, a2 could continue to do well thanks to expansion in the USA, UK and other countries it enters over time.
It's currently trading at 31x FY19's earnings.
Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)
Costa is one of the largest food-producing businesses in Australia. You can feel good owning this share because of the healthy food that it produces including berries, avocadoes, mushrooms, tomatoes and citrus food.
Due to packaging I know that my household buys four out of Costa's five main categories, so it's quite reassuring to know I'm economically supporting myself in a tiny way with each weekly shop.
Costa is increasing its food output every year and is developing farms in China. The Asian region could be a very large opportunity for Costa over the long-term.
The business is predicting that underlying profit can grow by more than 10% a year in the near future, which is solid compound growth.
It's currently trading at 25x FY19's estimated earnings.
Foolish takeaway
Both of these shares would make pleasing investments for any portfolio in my opinion. I'm currently drawn to Costa, but if a2 Milk started paying a dividend it would be an even more attractive investment idea.
