Income from passive investing sounds attractive.

Little effort. No worries. Just sit back and wait for the dividends to start rolling in for shareholders.

But do buy-and-forget stocks exist? Or should I sit at my computer and watch stock prices move? Should I study every piece of news from the companies I invest in?

This is one way to invest. But it is busy rather than passive.

I check it from time to time

For those who have lives, a more relaxed approach may be a better option.

After all, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is known for holding onto stocks for long periods of time—think decades. So he’s proven that there are some companies that can be buy-and-forget investments.

That said, Buffett is known for reading company annual reports. But I bet he doesn’t follow stock price movements or worry about every little thing. Does he even have his own computer? I’m not sure.

Reading annual reports—or even skimming them—is a good idea. If we don’t, what’s the point of being a do-it-yourself investor? We might as well just throw our money into low-cost index funds and ride off into the sunset.

However, a light-touch approach to owning stocks can be productive, as long-term holdings often yield the best returns. Being too busy can lead to doing stupid things, such as buying and selling stocks too often due to emotional overreactions to news flows.

But I think passive investing requires several conditions to be met.

Two significant steps to take

The first is to approach stock selection with caution and thorough preliminary research. The second is to diversify across several stocks so that all of your invested money is not too concentrated.

With a diversified long-term portfolio in mind, I would consider stocks like: Renewable energy infrastructure (LSE:TRIG).

The investment firm has a portfolio of onshore and offshore wind, solar and energy storage projects in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden.

In low, green energy, so why has the stock price been so feeble lately? In today’s world, the sector seems like an obvious choice for investment, at least at first glance.

Well, macroeconomic uncertainty has affected investor sentiment. Things like forecasts of lower electricity prices and persistently high interest rates.

These risks are real and could become a constant headwind for the company’s net asset value and cash flow growth. Many stocks in this sector have been marked lower by the market over the past few months.

Strong record

However, if Renewables Infrastructure maintains a decent cash flow, there is a good chance that the dividend payments will continue. After all, the long-term history of paying shareholders is excellent.

The company has been raising its dividend since at least 2018 and has seen no delays, even during the pandemic.

With the share price at around 100p, the projected yield for 2025 is just over 7.6%.

I believe the company has a dazzling future over the long term, and I would be joyful to do further research with a view to adding the stock to a diversified portfolio.