Many people feel too intimidated to invest in stocks. It is scary to commit your hard-earned money when you have the chance to lose some or even all of it. But while stocks can fluctuate over the short run, they have produced higher returns than other investments such as U.S. government bonds. In other words, you get paid for the higher risk.

So if you are ready to make a long-term commitment, putting your cash into stocks can prove lucrative. The question comes down to which companies to invest in.

Read more at The Motley Fool.