Getting started with ASX shares can feel overwhelming. With thousands of stocks to choose from, knowing where to begin isn't always easy.
One approach is to focus on high-quality businesses with strong competitive advantages and long growth runways. By buying and holding great companies for the long term, investors can benefit from the power of compounding while avoiding the temptation to trade in and out of the market.
For investors looking to build wealth over the next decade, here's a mix of growth and income shares that could be worth buying and forgetting about until 2036.
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Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
Wesfarmers provides a strong foundation for any long-term portfolio.
The conglomerate owns market-leading businesses including Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks, and Priceline. These operations generate reliable earnings and cash flow, supporting a growing stream of dividends for shareholders.
One of Wesfarmers' greatest strengths is its ability to reinvest capital into new opportunities while maintaining a conservative balance sheet. This has helped it create value across multiple economic cycles.
The main weakness of this ASX share is that its mature retail businesses may not grow as quickly as younger companies. However, for investors seeking stability and income, that can be a worthwhile trade-off.
In a long-term portfolio, Wesfarmers can serve as the dependable anchor.
Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
This $66 billion ASX share offers exposure to one of the most powerful structural growth themes in the market.
The property giant develops and manages logistics, warehousing, and data centre assets across the world. Demand for these facilities continues to grow as e-commerce expands and technology companies invest heavily in digital infrastructure.
Goodman's strengths include its global footprint, development expertise, and relationships with major customers. It also has a large development pipeline that could support earnings growth for years to come.
The risk is that property stocks can be sensitive to interest rates and economic conditions. Its premium valuation also leaves less room for disappointment if growth slows.
Even so, Goodman provides investors with exposure to long-term global growth trends that could remain intact well into the next decade.
Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)
Pro Medicus is arguably one of the ASX's highest-quality growth companies.
The ASX healthcare share supplies imaging software to hospitals and healthcare providers around the world. Its Visage platform has helped it win major contracts in the United States, the world's largest healthcare market.
The company's strengths include high profit margins, recurring revenue, and a growing list of blue-chip customers. This ASX share also benefits from healthcare digitisation, a trend that still has significant room to run.
The obvious risk is valuation. Pro Medicus trades on a high earnings multiple, meaning expectations are already elevated.
However, for investors with a 10-year time horizon, Pro Medicus offers exposure to a world-class Australian growth company with substantial expansion potential.
