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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

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 T-Mobile US Inc (NASD: TMUS) 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: 09/28/2016
$10,000

09/28/2016
$27,293

09/27/2021
End date: 09/27/2021
Start price/share: $46.81
End price/share: $127.78
Starting shares: 213.63
Ending shares: 213.63
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 172.98%
Average annual return: 22.24%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $27,293.97

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 22.24%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $27,293.97 today (as of 09/27/2021). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 172.98% (something to think about: how might TMUS 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:
“You can get in much more trouble with a good idea than a bad idea, because you forget that the good idea has limits.” — Benjamin Graham