(FORTUNE Magazine) – In an age of Quotrons and stock index futures, I have a do-it-yourself approach to investing that may sound hopelessly simple-minded: Buy stocks the way your grandmother did. ''Young man,'' she doubtless told you -- or ''young lady'' -- ''buy good companies and just sit on them.'' That's what I have done since the late 1970s, with an even more archaic touch. Aware that I might one < day get mad and quit my job, I wanted stocks whose growing dividends would protect me in my idleness from the kind of inflation then raging. Since dividend growth was my primary objective, I told relatives I would be delighted if my price performance came within 10% of the market's. But two years ago, when I wrote about my results in the 1991 Investor's Guide, I was comfortably ahead of both the S&P 500 and the consumer price index. The update below, based on a prorated slice of my portfolio -- to keep the boss guessing about my wealth -- shows that grandmothers are worth listening to. My 14-stock collection has continued to outpace the S&P 500 in price appreciation. But the scoreboard I really watch shows the dividend increases, including a big 14.3% one announced in August by Kellogg, one of my stars. My market-beating record over the past 4 2/3 years reflects the ultimate in low-key management: not a single trade. Because I collect no fee from myself, I have the luxury of not having to effect dervish-like turnover to impress the customer. I see no reason to part with Kellogg or my other champs, such as Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, CoreStates Financial, Procter & Gamble, Southern Indiana Gas & Electric, and Bell Atlantic. This doesn't mean that I ignore my holdings. Heinz has temporarily run out of steam. Aware of the oil industry's doldrums, I've toyed with selling Exxon. But it pays growing dividends, equal to 4.6% of the current price. After a stiff tax on my capital gains, I'd have to find a stock yielding more than 6% to replace the lost income, which today means a low-grade stock. I might also sell IBM. But because it has dwindled from 5.3% of my portfolio to only 1.9%, so has the case for resolute action. So for now my posture is no fees, no turnover, no sweat, no nothing. If it ain't broke . . . -- E.F.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: NO CREDIT CAPTION: BEATING THE MARKET. . . . . .AND INFLATION