What is the best long-term investment?

Stocks and equities are the most widely cited best long-term investment among investors who participated in The Motley Fool's 2026 Long-Term Investing Survey. 45% named stocks as the asset class most likely to deliver the best risk-adjusted returns over the next 10 years, making it the top choice across every generation surveyed.

How should you invest for the long term by age?

The key variable is the time horizon. Younger investors with decades ahead can sustain higher equity exposure and more risk, while investors closer to retirement typically shift toward diversified funds, dividend stocks, and capital preservation. The Motley Fool's 2026 survey found that 53% of Gen Z investors describe their risk tolerance as high or very high, compared to 21% of baby boomers.

How often should investors review their portfolios?

Most financial professionals recommend reviewing a portfolio quarterly or annually rather than more frequently. The Motley Fool's 2026 survey found that 29% of Gen Z investors check their portfolios at least weekly, compared to 11% of baby boomers. Frequent portfolio monitoring can lead to higher rates of reactive trading that can reduce long-term returns.

The Motley Fool's 2026 Long-Term Investing Survey

Every generation agrees that stocks are the best long-term investment. How each one actually invests tells a different story.

By Jack Caporal – Updated May 21, 2026 at 5:30 PM EST | Fact-checked by Parker Hicks

Key Points

45% of investors favor stocks for the best 10-year returns; preferences vary by age in secondary choices.
Gen Z is more likely to invest in cash and crypto as long-term assets compared to baby boomers.
Tech stocks are highly favored across generations, but owning AI stocks varies, with Gen Z leading.

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Gen Z stands apart in another way: 28% say value stocks will produce the highest returns over the next decade, compared to 13% of Gen X and 12% of baby boomers. And nearly one in five baby boomers (19%) say they are not sure which equity approach will produce the best returns, compared to just three percent of Gen Z. The generation with the most investing experience is the least certain about equity strategy.

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The results from respondents' responses on how often they actually trade tell a different story, particularly for the youngest generation.

Nearly half of Gen Z investors trade at least once a week. Forty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents buy or sell stocks or funds at least weekly, 14% trade daily, 32% trade once a week, compared to 14% of baby boomers who trade at that frequency, according to the 2026 survey. Millennials are also frequent traders. 13% trade every day, and 27% trade once a week. An investor trading weekly while describing their approach as buy-and-hold or passive investing is doing something closer to active management, whether they frame it that way or not.
Baby boomers are nearly five times more likely than Gen Z to trade less than once a month. 58% of baby boomers report making trades less than once a month, compared to 12% of Gen Z and 18% of millennials, according to the 2026 survey. Among investors who describe their approach as buy-and-hold, only baby boomers appear to consistently match the trading behavior that label implies.
Gen Z checks portfolios at more than double the rate of baby boomers. Twenty-nine percent of Gen Z investors review or adjust their investments at least weekly, compared to 11% of baby boomers, according to the 2026 survey. Fourteen percent of baby boomers review their portfolios rarely or never, more than four times the 3% of Gen Z who say the same. Frequent monitoring can lead to higher rates of reactive decision-making, thereby interrupting long-term compounding.

Risk tolerance also tracks with trading frequency. 53% of Gen Z investors describe their risk tolerance as high or very high, compared with 21% among baby boomers.

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Young and old investors seek a long-term mindset, but don’t always execute

Across every question in the 2026 survey, a consistent pattern emerges: younger investors bring higher stated risk tolerance, broader stock exposure, and stronger long-term intentions, but their behavior doesn't always match.

Gen Z trades more, checks their portfolios more, and holds more speculative positions. Those tendencies are not inherently a problem. Higher risk tolerance is appropriate for investors with long time horizons, but frequent trading and reactive monitoring can work against the compounding that makes long-term investing effective in the first place.

Baby boomers’ approach carries its own tension: the strongest conviction about technology's long-term potential, combined with the lowest rates of AI stock ownership and the least certainty about which type equity approach – growth, value, or dividend stocks – will produce results. Experience and confidence do not always point in the same direction.

For investors at any age thinking through a long-term investing strategy, the most durable edge apparent in the survey data is also the simplest: the investors who trade least tend to be the ones who started with the clearest sense of what their money is for.

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FAQs

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About the Author

Jack Caporal is the Research Director for The Motley Fool and Motley Fool Money. Jack leads efforts to identify and analyze trends shaping investing and personal financial decisions across the United States. His research has appeared in thousands of media outlets including Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC, and has been cited in congressional testimony. He previously covered business and economic trends as a reporter and policy analyst in Washington, D.C. He serves as Chair of the Trade Policy Committee at the World Trade Center in Denver, Colorado. He holds a B.A. degree in International Relations with a concentration in International Economics from Michigan State University.

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The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Gen Z is nearly four times more likely than baby boomers to name cash as the best 10-year investment. 23% of Gen Z investors said cash and cash equivalents, like high-yield savings accounts, money market funds, and short-term treasuries, would deliver the best risk-adjusted returns over the next decade, compared to just six percent of baby boomers, according to the 2026 survey. That preference is notable for the generation with the longest investment time horizon available.

Baby boomers are nearly five times more likely than Gen Z to favor diversified funds. 26% of baby boomers named diversified portfolios and funds, like balanced funds, target-date funds, and multi-asset ETFs, as their best 10-year investment pick, compared to just five percent of Gen Z, according to the 2026 survey. For investors at or near retirement, managed risk through diversified vehicles is consistent with their expected priorities.

Crypto is a more popular long-term choice among younger investors. 15% of Gen Z named cryptocurrency as their top 10-year asset, compared to eight percent of baby boomers, according to the 2026 survey. The preference declines steadily with age but remains a meaningful share across all four generations.

Gen Z vs. Boomers: What Each Generation Thinks About Long-Term Investing

Every generation agrees that stocks are the best long-term investment. How each one actually invests tells a different story.

Key Points

Young and old investors seek a long-term mindset, but don’t always execute

FAQs

About the Author

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FAQs

What is the best long-term investment?

How should you invest for the long term by age?

How often should investors review their portfolios?

Stocks top the list of best long-term investments across every generation, but second choices tell a different story

Specific stock and sector preferences diverge by generation

Baby boomers are the most bullish on tech but the least likely to own AI stocks

Gen Z trades weekly while baby boomers rarely touch their portfolios

Patience during volatility is the top challenge for every generation

Young and old investors seek a long-term mindset, but don’t always execute