Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org

“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 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 ten year holding period possibly?

Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) back in 2012: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full ten year investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 10 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.

Start date: 01/06/2012
$10,000

01/06/2012
$81,241

01/05/2022
End date: 01/05/2022
Start price/share: $5.30
End price/share: $43.05
Starting shares: 1,886.79
Ending shares: 1,886.79
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 712.26%
Average annual return: 23.29%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $81,241.28

As we can see, the ten year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 23.29%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $81,241.28 today (as of 01/05/2022). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 712.26% (something to think about: how might BSX shares perform over the next 10 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Here’s one more great investment quote before you go:
“Know what you own and why you own it.” — Peter Lynch