Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A): Four Smart Money Moves for the Newly Employed

If you want to take your investing a step further into individual stocks, start by looking at large, successful companies with understandable business models. For example, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) dominates the fast-food industry, serving 69 million people every day. Mickey D’s has had a tough few quarters as rising food costs pinched profits, and consumers have become even more value-minded. But the company still expects to grow sales faster than the industry this year by improving its menu, and by spending $3.2 billion adding locations and renovating existing restaurants.

Or take a look at The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). The beverage king doles out 1.8 billion drinks per day. Its entrenched position in so many customers’ lives kept Coke’s gross profits from falling much during the recession, and they’ve leapt to almost $30 billion over the past year. Still, Coca-Cola has room to expand, particularly overseas. Its flagship soda brand notched better than 30% volume growth in Thailand and India last quarter. And newer brands, such as Gold Peak and Honest Tea, helped the company boost its non-soda beverage volume by 6% globally.

Like McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) pays a hefty dividend, yielding about 3%. By collecting and reinvesting solid dividend payments like that, you can ensure that your money keeps working right along with you.

The article 4 Smart Money Moves for the Newly Employed originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Demitrios Kalogeropoulos.

Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos owns shares of McDonald’s and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s and owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway and McDonald’s.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.