Smart Money

1. Best Stock to Buy and Forget: MDT - Medtronic, the Minneapolis maker of medical device, is well-positioned to grow with America’s aging population.

2. Best Domestic Stock Fund: FAIRX - Fairholme minimizes risk in bear markets and maximizes return in bullish ones.

3. Best International Stock Fund: DODFX - Dodge & Cox International has outperformed the competition in recent years with meticulous research, modest management fees, and strong stock picks.

4. Best All-Around Retirement Account: The Roth IRA is tops with decades of tax-free growth and tax-free income in retirement.

5. Best “Target Date” Retirement Funds: T. Rowe Price pursues an aggressive growth strategy that beats out competitors.

Blend three ingredients - income, discipline and time - and you, too, can be a millionaire. This is the single most important thing you will ever hear about investing: to get rich, you must exercise discipline and patience. It may not be easy, but it’s definitely that simple. And you have no excuse not to do it.Here’s how it works: Say you start with nothing, invest $500 (of your income) a month (a healthy discipline), and let your money ride (over time) in diversified investments. Long term, the stock market returns at least 10% annually. Assuming a 10% return, you’d have $102,000 after 10 years, $380,000 after 20 years, and $1.1 million in 30 years.