Shares have proven to be the best way to create wealth over the long-term.
However, the hardest thing for many people to do is hold onto shares through the volatility. People buy and sell at the worst time. They sell when valuations are at the lowest point and fear is in the air, they buy when the market is euphoric and when valuations are high.
It's best just to buy and hold, stick with shares through whatever happens. But it's easier to hold long-term when your shares are actually less volatile, that's why I think these three shares could be good options:
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)
The global share market is made up of thousands of large businesses from a variety of industries like Apple, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, Samsung, LVMH, Unilever and so on.
You can get a very small slice of all of them with this ETF, it has well over 1,000 holdings. More shares should generally mean less volatility. As long as the collective global listed business market continues to earn higher profits into the future, this ETF will slowly keep rising in value and provide higher distributions.
It would easily be possible for this ETF to be your only investment for your whole life, if you wanted it to be.
Magellan Global Trust (ASX: MGG)
The investment team at Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) have an excellent track record of outperforming the MSCI Index over the long-term. Magellan Global Trust's portfolio normally falls less than the market when assets drop in price and its great long-term picks like Visa, MasterCard, Alphabet and Microsoft help it outperform over the longer-term.
Magellan Global Trust has a focus on the best quality large businesses in the world which have excellent brand power, strong moats and good compound growth potential.
Over the past two years it has produced an average return per annum of 15% after fees.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
Soul Patts could be one of the most defensive businesses on the ASX with its diverse portfolio of assets including resources, a telco, building products, property, pharmacies and so on.
It isn't leveraged with debt, it has lots of uncorrelated assets, it tries to be a contrarian investor, it has cash on the balance sheet for opportunities and it's steadily increasing its dividend for investors.
Soul Patts is not going to be the type of investment to triple in value in a short time frame, but it is an excellent compounder of wealth with a long-term outlook.
Foolish takeaway
I own Magellan Global Trust and Soul Patts in my portfolio for the long-term, probably for decades to come because of how flexible their investment policies and they generate strong returns.
