I think that buy and hold investing with ASX shares is one of the best ways to become rich.
But you can't just buy anything, you have to invest your hard-earned money smartly.
With that in mind, here is how you could use buy and hold investing to create wealth.
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Focus on quality ASX shares
When you buy a high-quality ASX share, you are not just buying a ticker code. You are buying a business with customers, employees, systems, and a strategy.
Over time, it is the business performance that drives returns. Earnings grow, products improve, and competitive positions strengthen. This is how long-term blue-chip winners such as Goodman Group (ASX: GMG), REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA), and ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD) have rewarded patient investors.
None of this progress is visible in day-to-day share price movements. It happens gradually.
Time smooths out mistakes
No one buys at the perfect time. Buy and hold investing accepts that reality. Instead of trying to avoid every downturn, it relies on time to smooth out poor entry points. Even some of the best ASX performers have gone through uncomfortable periods.
Shares like Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) and Life360 Inc. (ASX: 360) have experienced sharp pullbacks along the way, despite delivering strong long-term returns. Investors who stayed focused on the business rather than the share price were the ones who benefited most.
Time allows good decisions to matter more than perfect ones.
Simplicity reduces costly behaviour
Buy and hold investing is as much about behaviour as it is about returns.
Fewer decisions mean fewer chances to make mistakes. Investors who keep portfolios simple and focused on quality are less likely to panic, overtrade, or abandon their strategy at the wrong time.
Holding a small group of strong businesses or even broad-market exchange traded funds (ETFs) can make it easier to stay invested when volatility strikes.
Buy and hold investing is not passive
Holding an ASX share does not mean ignoring it forever.
Buy and hold investing still involves monitoring businesses and reassessing when fundamentals change. The difference is that decisions are driven by long-term business performance, not short-term price movements.
That patience allows investors to capture the upside of long-term growth without being shaken out by temporary noise. Prime examples today are WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) and CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL). Both are working their way through short-term issues, but nothing about the long-term investment thesis is broken.
Getting rich with ASX shares
If you are able to make a $1,000 investment into ASX shares each month and earned an average return of 10% per annum (not guaranteed but largely in line with historical returns), your wealth would grow materially.
After 20 years of doing this, you would have a portfolio valued at $725,000. And if you kept going for a further five years, you would see your portfolio increase to approximately $1.25 million.
Foolish takeaway
Buy and hold investing still works because businesses still grow.
On the ASX, shares like Pro Medicus, REA Group, and ResMed show how time, quality, and patience can work together to build wealth. Buy and hold investing may not feel exciting, but for investors focused on long-term results, it remains one of the most effective strategies available.
