There haven't been many better times to begin investing over the past year than now. The Nasdaq Composite index has dropped nearly 26% over the past 12 months, and many individual stocks have fallen far more. In other words, you can invest in businesses at multi-year lows, making it an opportune time to start investing. 

If you're investing in individual stocks, where should you start? Much like a house, an investment portfolio for long-term investors requires a robust foundation, a durable structure, and a few decorations. Using this analogy, let's find out what stocks can be phenomenal long-term purchases for beginning investors. 

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) can help serve as the bedrock for incoming investors for a few reasons. The first is that it has a recognizable name anywhere in the world, making it easy to understand what the company does and how it makes money. The second reason is that Apple is one of the largest businesses in the world, meaning that it has proven itself to investors better than nearly any company out there. 

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Source Fool.com