Want to Be a Millionaire? Buy These 3 Stocks and Hold for 20 Years

What's the easiest path to creating significant wealth? You don't have to time the market perfectly. Instead, you just need to invest in businesses that are well-positioned to profit from unstoppable trends -- and own them long enough for the power of compounding to do its magic.

I think three stocks are great picks for this strategy. Want to be a millionaire? Buy GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV), NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), and Brookfield Infrastucture (NYSE: BIP) (NYSE: BIPC) and hold them for 20 years.

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1. GE Vernova: powering the AI revolution

GE Vernova's shares have skyrocketed in 2026. Wall Street thinks the industrial stock can go even higher over the next 12 months. But this isn't a kind of stock to own for only a year or so. GE Vernova is a fantastic long-term pick.

The company's technologies are used to generate around 25% of the world's electricity. GE Vernova has installed around 7,000 gas turbines -- the largest fleet based on wattage. Its installed base of wind turbines totals roughly 59,000 and includes the largest installed base of onshore wind turbines in the U.S.

GE Vernova's backlog jumped $13 billion quarter-over-quarter in Q1 to $163 billion. This total represents more than 3.5 years of annual sales based on the company's 2026 revenue guidance.

Booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) is a key factor behind GE Vernova's impressive growth. It's no exaggeration to say that the company is powering the AI revolution. Other trends are also driving global electrification, though, and serving as tailwinds for GE Vernova, including the transition from coal-fueled power plants to natural gas.

2. NextEra Energy: the king of the utilities sector

NextEra Energy is the largest electric utility in the U.S. It's the largest energy infrastructure company in North America. The company is a global leader in renewable energy and battery storage. And it will soon be even bigger.

Two months ago, NextEra announced plans to acquire Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) in an all-stock transaction valued at $66.8 billion. This deal will make the combined entity the world's largest regulated electric utility by market cap.

NextEra expects to deliver strong adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth through 2035, with a targeted compound annual growth rate of at least 8%. Management also plans to increase its dividend by around 10% this year and by 6% per year through the end of 2028.

What's behind such impressive growth for a utility stock? AI demand is the biggest factor. NextEra's renewables leadership, including its significant nuclear power operations, should help ensure this stock remains a reliable compounder for years to come.

3. Brookfield Infrastructure: income and diversification

Brookfield Infrastructure offers two investment alternatives that share the same underlying business. You can buy units of the limited partnership (LP), Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, under the BIP ticker. If you don't want to deal with the tax hassles associated with investing in LPs, you can buy shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation, which trades under the BIPC ticker.

Either stock provides nice income. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners' distribution yield currently stands at around 4.7%, while Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation's forward dividend yield is 4.5%. Management plans to increase the distribution by 5% to 9% per year.

Both infrastructure stocks also give you tremendous diversification. Brookfield Infrastructure owns cell towers, data centers, electricity transmission lines, fiber optic cable, natural gas pipelines, natural gas storage facilities, rail operations, semiconductor manufacturing foundries, toll roads, and more. Its operations span five continents.

Brookfield Infrastructure targets a total annual return on invested capital of between 12% and 15%. It expects to grow funds from operations (FFO) by at least 10% per year. Importantly, around 85% of the company's FFO is protected from, or indexed to, inflation. I view Brookfield Infrastructure as one of the most resilient combination growth/income alternatives on the market.

Three stocks, two decades, one caveat

Can buying and holding these three stocks for two decades really make you a millionaire? I think so.

However, there is one important caveat: No one knows what changes could come over the next 20 years. Adverse regulatory decisions, technological disruptions, and/or management missteps could cause any of these stocks to flounder. That said, GE Vernova, NextEra Energy, and Brookfield Infrastructure operate in sectors that should grow regardless of what happens with the economy.

Keith Speights has positions in Brookfield Infrastructure, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, and Dominion Energy. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends GE Vernova and NextEra Energy. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Dominion Energy. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.