I'm always on the lookout for ASX shares to buy and hold forever.
If you can find businesses that you're willing to hold for the ultra-long-term you can cut down on choosing other poorer share choices, reduce brokerage costs and benefit from compound interest.
Not every share would be a good choice for a buy-and-hold strategy, but these two ASX shares could be good options:
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)
Most exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by Vanguard are good options for their low costs and diversified holdings.
This could be the best ones to own over the long-term because you get exposure to nearly 1,600 holdings. The great thing about the MSCI Index is that you get exposure to most share markets around the world.
Who knows whether the US, Europe or Asia share market will be the best performer this year or over the long-term? With this ETF you won't miss out on any of it, particularly with MSCI soon increasing the level of allocation to Asia, which could be the best performing region for the next century.
You still get exposure to all of the top US businesses too, like Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
Soul Patts has been operating for over a century and is arguably the safest business on the ASX because of its investment conglomerate nature. It takes large stakes in Australian businesses it thinks are long-term opportunities, it isn't stuck being a telco or bank.
It has been a long-term investor in businesses like TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) and Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW), and been well rewarded for it with huge share price gains.
Soul Patts has paid a dividend every year in its history, including through wars and recessions. As long as Soul Patts keeps investing in attractive businesses with long-term growth potential I think it could the best ASX share to let you sleep easily at night.
It currently offers a grossed-up dividend yield of 2.9%.
Foolish takeaway
Both of these ASX could be great choices to hold forever. I'm particularly attracted to Soul Patts because of its commitment to grow the dividend every year – it has grown the ordinary dividend every year since 2000.
