Want $1 million in retirement? Buy 3 stocks now that you've held for decades.

A million dollars is a lot of money, but if you have a few decades left before retirement, it's within reach for most investors. The key is to find a way to invest that will last through the good times and the bad.

Toronto Dominion Bank(Toronto -Dominion Bank)( (NYSE: TD)landownerIncome from real estateLandlordRealty Income)(New York Stock Exchange Stock Codes:O(math.) andBerkshire Hathawayfirms(Berkshire) Hathaway)(New York Stock Exchange: BRK) .A) (New York Stock Exchange: BRK).B) are currently the three least favored stocks (two dividend payers and one non-dividend payer) to consider buying and holding to help you achieve your $1 million investment goal. Below, we'll give a brief overview of each company.

1. Toronto Dominion Bank: Worries are real, but risks are overblown

Toronto-Dominion Bank is one of the largest banks in Canada. Canada's banking industry is highly regulated, which has resulted in a few large banks, such as TD, being protected from new competition. This strict regulation also created a conservative culture within TD and its peers. Thus, on balance, it was a relatively safe bank.

Despite all this, Canada's real estate market has been in a worrying state. First, home prices have been rising for a long time, and now interest rates are rising rapidly, causing investors to worry about increasing loan defaults.

TD Bank is even more worried. Recently, U.S. regulators forced TD to cancel an acquisition because of concerns about the company's money laundering controls. Canada is TD's foundation, and its U.S. business was expected to be its growth engine. That engine has just stalled, but probably only temporarily.

As a result of these concerns, investors have pushed the bank's dividend yield up to 5%, which is historically high. Given that the bank has been paying dividends for more than 100 years and has the third-highest Tier 1 capital ratio (a measure of its ability to withstand adversity) in North America, the risk seems low.

At the same time, the growth opportunities in the U.S. market are still large, even if they take longer to uncover. Wall Street's worries seem to be a buying opportunity.

2. Realty Income is not exciting, but that's the point!

Realty Income's 5.8% dividend yield is near its highest level in the past decade. This investment-grade real estate investment trust (REIT) has increased its dividend annually for 29 consecutive years.

To the extent possible, this is a slow and steady REIT, not a fast-growing one. However, this makes it a good base investment on which to add in faster-growing dividend-paying companies like TD Bank and non-dividend-paying companies like Berkshire Hathaway.

What's perhaps most striking about Realty Income is its model, as its $45 billion market capitalization is roughly three times that of its closest peer in net-lease REITs, which require tenants to pay most of the property's operating costs.

Yes, rising interest rates are a disadvantage, but with its size and financial strength, Realty Income is well-positioned to access the capital markets. This gives it the ability to do deals that its peers cannot. It is also strong enough to be a name in the industry, having acquired two net leasing peers in recent years.

If you reinvest the dividends from this slow-growing, high-yield stock, it can provide a solid foundation (as boring as it is) for a more diversified portfolio.

3. Berkshire Hathaway is a monster.

When it comes to giant companies, conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway is involved in a wide variety of businesses. It owns a number of businesses, including large insurance operations, railroads, and energy businesses, and also invests inCoca-Colarespond in singingOccidental Petroleumand other stocks.

But the company is probably best known for its chief executive, Warren Buffett, whose spirit permeates the company and all its investments.

Interestingly, over time, Berkshire focused on investing in other assets using the large amounts of cash generated by its business, and it succeeded. Today, Berkshire hoards nearly $34 billion in cash and nearly $130 billion in short-term investments. With Buffett and resonance companies investing in the Bubbles, all of this available cash is waiting for the right time to be deployed in new businesses.

Berkshire's investment philosophy is to buy low and hold for as long as possible. While this can lead to weakness in the short term, it works very well in the long term. That's why Berkshire Hathaway is the kind of stock you want to hold for decades.

As for the right time to buy, Berkshire Hathaway is currently valued at a resonable price-to-earnings ratio and a price-to-sales ratio that are both near or below their five-year averages. For a company like Berkshire Hathaway, a resonable price is a good price.

Balanced Asset Groups

While any of these stocks may have a value, TD Bank, Realty Income, and Berkshire Hathaway have come together to create an interesting set of names: one name has both income and growth, another has only income, and a third has only growth, creating a diverse and balanced set of names to invest in. The key, however, is to buy and hold for the long term so that the business you own continues to grow. Only then will you have a seven-figure fortune.

Should you invest $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway now?

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Reuben Gregg Brewer holds shares of Realty Income and Toronto-Dominion Bank.The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Realty Income.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum Corporation The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Want $1 Million in Retirement? 3 Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for Decades was originally published by The Motley Fool.