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“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

— Warren Buffett

The investment philosophy practiced by Warren Buffett calls for investors to take a long-term horizon when making an investment, such as a two-decade holding period (or even longer), and reconsider making the investment in the first place if unable to envision holding the stock for at least five years. Today, we look at how such a long-term strategy would have done for investors in Dollar Tree Inc (NASD: DLTR) back in 2000, holding through to today.

Start date: 11/24/2000
$10,000

11/24/2000
$74,892

11/20/2020
End date: 11/20/2020
Start price/share: $12.69
End price/share: $94.97
Starting shares: 788.02
Ending shares: 788.02
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 648.38%
Average annual return: 10.59%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $74,892.26

As shown above, the two-decade investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 10.59%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $74,892.26 today (as of 11/20/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 648.38% (something to think about: how might DLTR shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

More investment wisdom to ponder:
“Your investor’s edge is not something you get from Wall Street experts. It’s something you already have. You can outperform the experts if you use your edge by investing in companies or industries you already understand.” — Peter Lynch