The royal road to riches

My nephew Sam -- fresh out of college -- would rather chase the latest big momentum stock than actually work to build true wealth over time.

But despite his rookie mistakes he does have the most valuable investment asset of them all. It's called time. Here's a look at four solid dividend-paying stocks and a long-term strategy that can guarantee that he'll be rich.

And the best part is he doesn't need to be star trader or market timer to get there. All Sam needs to do is use what Albert Einstein once called �the most powerful force on earth.�

It's the safe, sure road called "compounding" � and anybody who tries it can become a millionaire if they are smart enough to stick with it.

Let's say Sam had invested $10,000 in Altria Group (MO) instead of wasting his time chasing some high-flyer. That initial investment would buy him 357 shares, each earning a dividend yield of 5.8%.
Thirty-one years later, this same example would earn Sam a million dollar payday � if he reinvested his dividends, added $400 a month to his account, and the underlying stock appreciated just 4% per year. At age 53, he'd be set.

What's more, if Sam stuck to this program for 14 more years, he'd hit the jackpot... collecting $206,000 a year in streaming income to go along with a nearly $4 million dollar nest egg at age 67.

That's why compounding is often called "the royal road to riches." For a guy like Sam, investing in four solid dividend payers from different sectors of the market would be a smart approach.

With that in mind, here are three more stocks -- in addition to Altria -- that he could buy on his way to financial freedom:

A diversified chemical giant, DuPont Co. (DD) is a global enterprise with operations in 90 countries. The company has consistently been paying dividends since 1904 with a payout ratio of 46%. DD pays a 3.5 % yield with a forward P/E of just 11.03.

Going long oil and natural gas is an easy one. With a P/E of 9.34, ConocoPhillips (COP) is trading at just 1.47x book value.

The fourth-largest integrated oil company in the world, COP -- which is planning to split into two publicly-traded stocks -- pays a 3.6% dividend that's up 83% over the last five years.

The largest provider of residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal waste services, Waste Management (WM) operates in business that's never going away.

With high barriers to entry, WM also has a virtual lock on the industry. The company currently pays a 4.4% dividend.