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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 above quote from Warren Buffett is timeless, and brings into focus the choice about time horizon that any investor should think about before buying a stock they are considering. Behind every stock is an actual business; what will that business look like over a five year period?

Today, let’s look backwards in time to 2017, and take a look at what happened to investors who asked that very question about T-Mobile US Inc (NASD: TMUS), by taking a look at the investment outcome over a five year holding period.

Start date: 04/18/2017
$10,000

04/18/2017
$20,574

04/14/2022
End date: 04/14/2022
Start price/share: $64.61
End price/share: $132.96
Starting shares: 154.77
Ending shares: 154.77
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 105.79%
Average annual return: 15.55%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $20,574.72

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 15.55%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $20,574.72 today (as of 04/14/2022). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 105.79% (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.]

One more piece of investment wisdom to leave you with:
“The older I get, the more I see a straight path where I want to go. If you’re going to hunt elephants, don’t get off the trail for a rabbit.” — T. Boone Pickens