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Stocks your parents should have bought in the year you were born

Shares that have kept giving
1940 – Dow Chemical: $1,000 invested then is worth $243,336 (£166k) + dividends today
1941 – S&P 500 Index Fund: $1,000 invested then is worth $2.9 million (£2m) today
1942 – Pfizer: $1,000 invested then is worth $206,950 (£142k) + dividends today
1943 – General Electric: $1,000 invested then is worth $197.974 (£135k) + dividends today
1944 – Johnson & Johnson: $1,000 invested then is worth $7.5 million (£5.1) + dividends today
1945 – UK stock market: $1,000 invested then is worth $1.2 million (£820k) today
1946 – Lafayette College Investing Club: $1,000 invested then is worth $1.3 million (£888k) today
1947 – IBM: $1,000 invested then is worth $64million (£43.7) + dividends today
1948 – Walt Disney: $1,000 invested then is worth $96 million (£66m) today
1949 – A.W. Jones Partnership: $1,000 invested then is worth millions of dollars today
1950 – ExxonMobil/Standard Oil: $1,000 invested then is worth $2.4 million (£1.7m) today
1951 – Australian stock market: $1,000 invested then is worth $148,000 (£102k) today
1952 – Gold: $1,000 invested then is worth $82,000 (£56k) today
1953 – PZ Cussons: $1,000 invested then is worth $737,000 (£504k) today
1954 – Templeton Growth Fund: $1,000 invested then is worth 100s of thousands of dollars today
1955 – Aflac: $1,000 invested then is worth $10.9 million (£7.5m) today
1956 – Walter Schloss Associates: $1,000 invested then is worth millions of dollars today
1957 – Philip Morris/Altria: $1,000 invested then is worth $5.5 million (£3.8m) today
1958 – American Century Investments: $1,000 invested then is worth 100s of millions of dollars today
1959 – Publix: $1,000 invested then is worth $4 million (£2.7m) today
1960 – Westfield: $1,000 invested then is worth $174 million (£120m) today
1961 – Lowe's: $1,000 invested then is worth $6.2 million (£4.2m) today
1962 – Coca-Cola: $1,000 invested then is worth $221,445 (£152k) today + dividends
1963 – American Express: $1,000 invested then is worth $384,000 (£263k) today
1964 – Berkshire Hathaway: $1,000 invested then is worth $18+ million (£12.4m) today
1965 – McDonald’s: $1,000 invested then is worth $4.1 million (£2.8m) today + dividends
1966 – Winnebago Industries: $1,000 invested then is worth $1.1 million (£752k) today + dividends
1967 – Public Bank Berhad: $1,000 invested then is worth $336,000 (£230k) today + dividends
1968 – Flowers Foods: $1,000 invested then is worth $140,000 (£96k) today + dividends
1969 – Town Centre Securities (TCS): $1,000 invested then is worth $696,000 (£476k) today + dividends
1970 – Wal-Mart: $1,000 invested then is worth $9.6 million ($6.6m) today + dividends
1971 – Intel: $1,000 invested then is worth $280,000 (£191k) today + dividends
1972 – Southwest Airlines:  $1,000 invested then is worth $2.2 million (£1.5m) today + dividends
1973 – Walgreens: $1,000 invested then is worth $584,445 (£400k) today
1974 – Comcast: $1,000 invested then is worth $4.5 million (£3.4m) today
1975 – Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD): $1,000 invested then is worth $392,000 (£268k) today
1976 – Apple: $1,000 invested then is worth $43.75 billion (£30bn) today
1977 – Arsenal Football Club: $1,000 invested then is worth $382,000 (£261k) today
1978 – Colgate-Palmolive: $1,000 invested then is worth $69,180 (£47k) today
1979 – Eaton Vance: $1,000 invested then is worth over $2 million (£1.4m) today
1980 – Wipro: $1,000 invested then is worth $76.2 million (£52m) today
1981 – Proctor & Gamble: $1,000 invested then is worth $35,000 (£24k) today
1982 – Bemis: $1,000 invested then is worth $2 million (£1.4m) today
1983 – M&T Bank: $1,000 invested then is worth $3.1 million (£2.1m) today + dividends
1984 – UnitedHealth: $1,000 invested then is worth $50,000 (£34k) today
1985 – Helical Bar: $1,000 invested then is worth $723,000 (£494k) today
1986 – Microsoft: $1,000 invested then is worth $740,000 (£506k) today
1987 – Oracle: $1,000 invested then is worth $646,542 (£442k) today + dividends
1988 – Dell: $1,000 invested then was worth $157,000 (£107k) by 2013
1989 – Hasbro: $1,000 invested then is worth $31,481 (£21.5k) today
1990 – Cisco: $1,000 invested then is worth $440,000 (£301k) today
1991 – Qualcomm: $1,000 invested then is worth $125,300 (£85.6k) today + dividends
1992 – Starbucks: $1,000 invested then is worth $230,845 (£158k) today
1993 – Infosys: $1,000 invested then is worth $1.6 million (£1.1m) today
1994 – Capita: $1,000 invested then is worth $50,000 (£34.2k) today
1995 – Monster Beverage: $1,000 invested then is worth $435,018 (£297k) today
1996 – Yahoo: $1,000 invested then is worth $60,000 (£41k) today
1997 – Amazon: $1,000 invested then is worth $440,000 (£301k) today
1998 – eBay: $1,000 invested then is worth $181,028 (£124k) today + dividends
1999 – Keurig Green Mountain: $1,000 invested then is worth $500,000 (£344k) today
2000 – Illumina: $1,000 invested then is worth $17,935 (£12.3k) today
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Shares that have kept giving

Thanks to the magic of compound interest, stock splits and bumper dividends, investing in the right company at the right time can transform a tiny holding into a substantial fortune – as long as you're prepared to be patient and hold onto your investment. Click or scroll through the most lucrative long-term stocks from the year you were born, based on an initial investment of $1,000.
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Daniel Coughlin

26 November 2020

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