Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org

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

— Warren Buffett

Investors can learn a lot from Warren Buffett, whose above quote teaches the importance of thinking about investment time horizon, and asking ourselves before buying any given stock: can we envision holding onto it for years — even a five year holding period possibly?

Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into Fiserv Inc (NASD: FISV) back in 2016: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full five year investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 5 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.

Start date: 03/03/2016
$10,000

03/03/2016
$23,773

03/02/2021
End date: 03/02/2021
Start price/share: $48.65
End price/share: $115.68
Starting shares: 205.55
Ending shares: 205.55
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 137.78%
Average annual return: 18.91%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $23,773.43

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 18.91%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $23,773.43 today (as of 03/02/2021). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 137.78% (something to think about: how might FISV shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Here’s one more great investment quote before you go:
“The most important thing about an investment philosophy is that you have one.” — David Booth