I won’t be saying anything too controversial here: These are just strong companies with stocks that represent great long-term opportunities. These equities are great buy-and-hold opportunities for investors of all ages, but it should also be noted that as recently as 2019, 90% of the total value of all stock ownership was by individuals 45 years of age and up. If younger generations want to control a greater share of wealth, stock ownership is a worthwhile path.

Further, it’s usually better to start earlier rather than later, and this case is no different. Fortunately, younger generations seem to have caught on. 31% of millennials started to invest before the age of 21 compared to 9% of baby boomers.

Whatever demographic you happen to fall within, consider these equities if you already haven’t purchased them.

MSFT	Microsoft	$271.45
GOOG	Alphabet	$2,341.48
ADM	Archer-Daniels-Midland	$87.49
TSN	Tyson Foods	$86.76
BASFY	BASF	$13.77
BRK-B	Berkshire Hathaway	$306.48
AAPL	Apple	$146.58

Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock is a heavily favored, resilient investment. It’s clear that Microsoft is built different when it comes to resilience. Most stocks will remain discounted in the wake of downgraded guidance for quite some time.

Not Microsoft.

On June 2 the company downgraded guidance in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. That filing stated that expected quarterly sales between $52.4 to $53.2 billion had been modified downward to between $51.94 to $52.74 billion.

While the adjustment is slight on an absolute basis, downgrades of all stripes often cause long-term price declines. For Microsoft the damage was minimal. MSFT stock was down 3% at opening but quickly reclaimed the losses by the end of the day.

Investors should expect Microsoft to weather most any storm. Its performance is simply too attractive for investors to remain sour on its prospects for long. Most recently, the company saw revenues increase 18% while net income increased by 8%.

And growth should remain very steady. Microsoft should record approximately $199 billion in sales this year. That should rise to $227 billion in 2023. 14% growth is exceptional by most standards.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

When you invest in Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock, you’re buying into ownership of Google search, YouTube, Android, infrastructure, hardware and Google Cloud. This is what is better known as Google. There’s every reason to believe that Alphabet will continue to be relevant for decades based on its Google assets.

But investors should also note that the company also controls what are known as “other bets.”

Those other bets include its venture capital arm, GV. They also include projects that have strong chances of materializing into something much bigger in the future.

These projects include Calico, which is working to extend the human lifespan; DeepMind, which is developing artificial intelligence; and Waymo, which is already behind self-driving vehicles seen in San Francisco and Phoenix. Chances are that Alphabet will cull some wins from among them. And that’s why investors ought to believe that GOOG stock will remain highly relevant for a very long time.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM)

Agricultural commodities are only going to become more valuable in the future. Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) stock is a great bet on that growth. Yes, it has garnered a bit of attention lately as Ukrainian grain production falters due to Russia’s invasion and the ongoing war.

But it’s the longer-range implications that ought to have buy and hold forever investors interested in ADM shares. Food security is becoming a more prevalent issue. Despite President Biden’s warning of potential food shortages, most experts believe U.S. food stocks are safe in the near term.

But ADM will remain important nevertheless. The corn, oil and wheat production it controls is vital and isn’t going to wane in importance. It also has reasonable upside with an $87 price and a nearly $100 target price. The 5-year monthly beta of ADM stock sits at 0.76, meaning it simply is less affected by market volatility than other stocks.

Tyson Foods (TSN)

The next two stocks on this list, starting with Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), will continue the theme of the importance of food.

Tyson Food’s website highlights the importance of its business and the demand for the products it produces. The company knows that a growing global population requires protein. And it knows that it needs to be where that population growth is in order to serve that population.

Tyson notes that global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 and that protein demand will double in the same period. So, in order to fulfill that demand, Tyson currently has operations in 10 countries across five continents.

That’s a very logical bet to make. Tyson doesn’t have fantastic analyst sentiment, and it may or may not be the meat producer fulfilling the rising protein demand of the future. But it is one of the biggest now, and that makes it a strong contender for the future.

BASF (BASFY)

BASF (OTCMKTS:BASFY) is one of the largest chemical firms in the world. In 2021, its net income of $6.08 billion ranked second only to Dow (NYSE:DOW). In other years it has ranked first, which could easily happen again.

Choose BASF because it is well-positioned to take advantage of rising agricultural production. Sales by its agricultural solutions division increased 19.4% in the most recent quarter. In North America, the increase was driven by strong pricing, not volume. On the other hand, in both Europe and Asia sales increased due to the effects of higher volumes.

BASF also recognized strong sales increases in animal nutrition which suggests that protein production will continue to be a strong driver for it along with other companies.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B)

I would refer readers to the thoughts of my colleague, Joel Baglole, when it comes to investing in Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A, NYSE:BRK-B) stock. He characterized it as being considered by some to be the best retirement stock, period. He also noted that it consistently outperforms the market.

That has certainly been the case in 2022 as the S&P 500 has declined 14% thus far. Meanwhile, BRK-B is up 2% year-to-date.

Sure, that short period doesn’t provide a great basis for investing for the next few decades. But Berkshire Hathaway is a stock that represents Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger and their shared investment thesis. It’s all about finding intrinsic value lower than expected future return and playing the long game. It has worked for them as individual investors and should continue to underpin BRK-B stock long after they’re both gone.

Apple (AAPL)

Predicting the future is a fool’s errand as the saying goes. So, maybe consumers’ loyalty to Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) products will someday wane. If that happens, its stock will decline. But that doesn’t seem likely to occur anytime soon, if ever.

Apple simply sells more of its products and rarely seems to slow down ever. Most recently, that was evidenced on April 28, when it reported its highest record March quarter sales ever.

It also happens to be the largest company in the world based on market capitalization. The funny thing is that Apple is 23% below its target price right now and commands nearly $2.4 trillion in market cap. That market cap will rise to over $3 trillion if it reaches consensus target prices.

The point here is that Apple has massive clout that equates to massive investor capital backing it, which in turn implies that it will be around for a long time to come.

On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.