Plenty of companies look unstoppable for a decade. Then the industry shifts. Management changes. Debt builds up. A once-great compounder falls out of favour and underperforms for years. Buy-and-hold only works if the underlying business is built to survive multiple economic cycles, leadership transitions, and market regimes.
If I had to pick one stock to hold inside a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) for decades, it wouldn’t be because of brand recognition or nostalgia. It would be because of how the business is structured. That stock is Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B).
Even with Buffett stepping down at the end of 2025, the structural advantages that make Berkshire unique remain intact. This is less a single company and more a self-contained, internally compounding capital allocation machine.
A structure built for durability
Berkshire behaves less like a typical operating company and more like a diversified holding company wrapped inside one ticker. On the public side, it owns large stakes in blue-chip companies across sectors such as insurance, energy, consumer goods, and technology.
On the private side, it wholly owns dozens of operating businesses. That includes names like GEICO, BNSF Railway, and Duracell, alongside utilities, manufacturing firms, retailers, and service companies. These are not speculative ventures. Many are mature, cash-generating businesses that operate regardless of whether markets are booming or crashing.
Then there is the balance sheet. Berkshire is sitting on roughly $380 billion in cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. That level of liquidity gives it enormous flexibility. When markets are stressed and capital is scarce, Berkshire can deploy cash without issuing shares, taking on excessive debt, or diluting investors. It can buy entire companies outright if the opportunity is attractive.
That structure is what makes it resilient. You are not relying on one product, one CEO, or one growth story. You are buying a collection of businesses plus a disciplined capital allocator sitting on a mountain of liquidity.
Succession and capital allocation discipline
A common concern is whether Berkshire without Buffett is the same. The reality is that succession planning has been underway for years. Greg Abel now oversees non-insurance operations and has long been involved in major capital allocation decisions. Ajit Jain continues to lead the insurance operations, which are central to Berkshire’s model.
More importantly, the framework is already in place. Berkshire’s culture emphasizes disciplined underwriting, conservative leverage, and opportunistic capital deployment. It does not chase trends. It does not overextend in bull markets. It waits for asymmetric opportunities and acts decisively.
That process does not disappear with one individual. It is embedded in how the company operates. For a “forever” holding, that continuity matters more than a cult of personality.
Internal compounding and tax efficiency
Berkshire does not pay a dividend, and that is by design. Instead of distributing cash and triggering taxes, the company reinvests internally or repurchases shares when they trade below intrinsic value. Buybacks increase each remaining shareholder’s ownership stake without generating immediate taxable income.
Over decades, that internal compounding can be powerful. There is no annual tax drag from dividends. There is no need to manually reinvest payouts. Capital stays inside the business and continues working.
Inside a TFSA, that structure becomes even cleaner. You avoid the typical 15% foreign withholding tax that applies to U.S. dividend stocks, because Berkshire pays none, and likely won’t in the future.
