Warren Buffett – one of (if not the) greatest investors of all time – likes to say his favourite time to hold a stock is forever. For good reason too. Selling stocks inevitably means extra costs like brokerage and tax as well as foregoing potential future gains. If Buffett sold the American Express Co shares that he bought in the 1960s, I'm sure his company Berkshire Hathaway would be up for one heck of a capital gain tax bill.
In that vein, here are 3 ASX dividend-paying shares that I think you can buy and never sell.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
CSL is the largest healthcare company on the ASX and the third-largest overall. It's a company that has managed to knock out double digit growth numbers for as long as anyone can (probably) remember, but only recently started paying a dividend back in 2013.
We'll always need healthcare as a society, and I think CSL's world-class R&D division will ensure this company remains in the vanguard of its peers. Thus, I don't think you would ever have to worry about selling CSL shares if you were to buy them today.
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)
Transurban is a favourite of ASX dividend investors. Its vast network of toll roads and motorways include some of the busiest arterial roads in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Despite the significant disruption in the way we use cars that companies like Uber and Tesla are bringing, I don't see the fundamentals of Transurban's business model being too affected over the coming decades. Thus, I think TCL shares would be a great buy-and-hold investment for the foreseeable future.
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)
Similarly, I don't see a future in which air travel is not the primary method of going overseas. Sydney Airport is a world-class asset built on a prime Mascot location and it enjoys a virtual monopoly over the skies of NSW.
Anyone entering or leaving NSW by air will likely do so through Sydney Airport's gates, which all but guarantees a certain level of reliable cash flow for the foreseeable future. Thus I think SYD shares would also have a worthy place in a 'never-sell' portfolio.
Foolish takeaway
All 3 of these companies possess significant competitive advantages (or as Buffett would say 'moats'), which make all 3 (in my opinion) great stocks to buy without a need to ever consider selling. Probably for this reason, all are relatively expensive at the current time. But I see that as an endorsement that the market knows quality when it sees it.
