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“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 Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE: LYV) 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: 08/10/2012
$10,000

08/10/2012
  $109,138

08/09/2022
End date: 08/09/2022
Start price/share: $8.72
End price/share: $95.14
Starting shares: 1,146.79
Ending shares: 1,146.79
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 991.06%
Average annual return: 26.99%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $109,138.89

As shown above, the ten year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 26.99%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $109,138.89 today (as of 08/09/2022). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 991.06% (something to think about: how might LYV shares perform over the next 10 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

More investment wisdom to ponder:
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein