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If you’re planning to retire in 10 years but want to boost your nest egg, there’s still time. Having a solid plan and making the right investments can help secure your financial future. While high-yield savings accounts and bonds are usually safe bets and offer stability, smart stock choices can potentially grow your wealth faster.
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If you’re considering investing in stocks, here are two stocks to invest in that could help you reach your goals quicker, according to financial experts.
Why Microsoft Could Power Your Retirement Fund
Microsoft is one of the world’s leading tech companies, continuing to dominate the PC market and at the forefront of groundbreaking AI research, consistently applying powerful and forward-thinking technologies to its products. According to NASDAQ, Microsoft stock has been consistently performing thanks to the “AI boom,” and experts believe this is one stock that can help you retire in a decade.
“If you invested $100,000 today and the stock averaged a conservative 10% annual return (slightly below its 20-year average), your portfolio could grow to roughly $259,000 in 10 years,” said Danny Ray, founder of PinnacleQuote. “Furthermore, reinvesting dividends could push that number even higher.”
He explained, “This works because Microsoft generates strong recurring revenue, continually expands into emerging markets like AI and cybersecurity, and has the financial strength to innovate without overextending.”
While investing in stocks is always riskier than other types of investments, Ray noted their stability.
“Above all, it has a proven history of weathering market downturns while still rewarding patient investors.”
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Why a High-Dividend Stock Like BTI Still Makes Sense
According to the American Lung Association, over the last five years, adults have been smoking 17% less, but Vince Stanzione, an experienced stock trader and author of “The Millionaire Dropout,” still highly recommends buying into British American Tobacco (BTI). Stanzione has 10% of his personal long-term portfolio (a multi-million dollar holding) in it, and he reinvests the dividends into more shares.
“This is a stock which is a little controversial because of the Tobacco exposure, and some funds will not buy it, yet the stock is up over 50% so far this year and has beaten most tech stocks, including Nvidia and even Bitcoin so far this year,” he explained.
Stanzione first bought BTI stocks back in 2001 and said it’s great for long-term holding because it’s a business controlled by a few companies with little new competition.
“The company throws off massive amounts of cash, which they use to pay shareholders dividends and buy back shares,” he said. “Whilst some see cigarette smoking as an industry in decline, the company is spending large amounts on R&D for new products to help offset declines.”
He added, “BTI currently pays a dividend yield of over 5% and on a forward P/E ratio of under 13, it still remains good value even after the 57% share price increase in YTD.”
Retirement Planning: Beyond Just Stocks
Having a game plan for your golden years is vital, and while many people say their plan is to live off investments and Social Security, Eric Mangold, CWS Founder of Argosy Wealth Management, urges future retirees to look at the bigger picture and ask themselves the following questions.
- What does living off of your investments mean?
- Do you know exactly how much money you will need on Day 1 of your retirement?
- Do you have any risk of running out of money before you run out of breath?
- What is your Social Security filing strategy going to be?
- Are you focusing on a specific savings number or goal instead of looking at how much money will come in the door from all your income sources versus how much money is going out the door in expenses and taxes?
Mangold suggests having a proper budget laid out with all expenses, including taxes, your savings rate, investments, and estimates from all potential income sources like Social Security, rental income, pensions, and annuity strategies.
Then determine if you have more income than you’re spending. Once you do that, Mangold says to consider these questions:
- Do you need to save more?
- Are you taking enough risk or too much risk in your portfolio?
- Do you have any risk of running out of money?
“Retirement isn’t about assets, it’s about income,” Mangold said. “Too many folks focus on hitting the home-run ball with the hottest stocks that they can’t see the forest through the trees.” He added, “Meaning just because they did well on a few stocks, it may not be making the impact in their retirement that they want.”