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“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”

— Warren Buffett

The Warren Buffett investment philosophy calls for a long-term investment horizon, where a five year holding period, or even longer, would fit right into the strategy. How would such a strategy have worked out for an investment into Amazon.com Inc (NASD: AMZN)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2015.

Start date: 10/30/2015
$10,000

10/30/2015
$51,303

10/29/2020
End date: 10/29/2020
Start price/share: $625.90
End price/share: $3,211.01
Starting shares: 15.98
Ending shares: 15.98
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 413.02%
Average annual return: 38.66%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $51,303.25

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 38.66%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $51,303.25 today (as of 10/29/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 413.02% (something to think about: how might AMZN shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Another great investment quote to think about:
“The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go.” — Benjamin Graham