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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 Adobe Inc (NASD: ADBE) back in 2018: 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: 09/18/2018
$10,000

09/18/2018
  $19,528

09/15/2023
End date: 09/15/2023
Start price/share: $270.79
End price/share: $528.89
Starting shares: 36.93
Ending shares: 36.93
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 95.31%
Average annual return: 14.34%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $19,528.64

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 14.34%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $19,528.64 today (as of 09/15/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 95.31% (something to think about: how might ADBE shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

One more investment quote to leave you with:
“Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble.” — Warren Buffett