There are many myths about investing. Some people think they need a lot of money to get started. Others believe that trading in and out of the market is the best way to make a fortune. Neither is true. You actually don't need much money to begin investing. Less frequent trading is usually a much better way to generate long-term gains.
Of course, it's important to find the right stocks to own. That's not a huge challenge, though. If you've got $2,500 to invest, here are two stocks that you can buy and hold for a lifetime.
1. Apple
Who is the most famous buy-and-hold investor on the planet? Warren Buffett. What's his favorite stock? Excluding his own Berkshire Hathaway, the answer would almost certainly be Apple (AAPL -0.35%). Buffett has invested more heavily in Apple than any other stock, by far.
A little under half of your initial $2,500 would allow you to buy seven shares of Apple at the current price. You should be able to hold onto those shares for decades, too, because the tech titan's business is built for the long term.
Apple's ecosystem stands out as its not-so-secret ingredient to success. This ecosystem features the company's super-popular devices such as the iPhone, iPad, AirPods, and Apple Watch. Just as important, though, are its services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple TV+, and more.
The company's products enjoy strong brand loyalty. As a result, customers keep coming back to buy new versions -- which Apple regularly introduces.
Apple isn't resting on its laurels, though. It continues to expand into new areas. For example, the company is expected to soon launch an augmented reality/virtual reality headset. There are also rumors that Apple will move into the health insurance business in partnership with a large insurer as soon as 2024.
Don't overlook Apple's opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI), either. The company's AI efforts haven't been at the center of attention given the meteoric rise of OpenAI's ChatGPT. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated in February that AI "will affect every product in every service that we have."
Buffett stated in 2020 that Apple is "probably the best business I know in the world." Earlier this year, he said that the company is "a wonderful business, so we own a lot of it." When an investor who made a fortune of over $100 billion by evaluating businesses gives such high praise, it's a stock to buy and hold.
2. Intuitive Surgical
After buying seven shares of Apple, you could scoop up five shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG 0.59%) and still have a little money left over from your initial $2,500. Why invest in Intuitive Surgical? Its long-term prospects are outstanding.
The company reigns as the 800-pound gorilla in the robotic surgical systems market. Intuitive pioneered this arena with its da Vinci system. It still holds a commanding share more than two decades later.
To be sure, Intuitive Surgical now has more competition with big players including Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic entering the robotic surgical systems market. However, no rival can come close to Intuitive's track record of demonstrating safety and positive returns on investment -- two attributes that are critical for customers.
The market for robotic surgical systems should grow tremendously over the next few decades thanks to aging populations across the world. This demographic trend should drive increased demand for surgeries, including several for which robotic surgery is especially well suited right now.
Intuitive Surgical is also investing in research and development to expand the use of robotic surgery to other procedures. Even with the significant growth in the use of robotic assistance in surgeries, only a small percentage of total procedures performed currently use robots. This percentage will almost certainly increase in the future.
