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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 decade-long holding period possibly?

Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) back in 2013: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full decade-long investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 10 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.

Start date: 07/01/2013
$10,000

07/01/2013
  $57,303

06/28/2023
End date: 06/28/2023
Start price/share: $425.27
End price/share: $2,437.63
Starting shares: 23.51
Ending shares: 23.51
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 473.20%
Average annual return: 19.08%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $57,303.41

As shown above, the decade-long investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 19.08%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $57,303.41 today (as of 06/28/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 473.20% (something to think about: how might AZO shares perform over the next 10 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Another great investment quote to think about:
“There is nothing riskier than the widespread perception that there is no risk.” — Howard Marks