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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 Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE: CMG) 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: 10/21/2013
$10,000

10/21/2013
  $36,267

10/19/2023
End date: 10/19/2023
Start price/share: $509.25
End price/share: $1,847.63
Starting shares: 19.64
Ending shares: 19.64
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 262.81%
Average annual return: 13.75%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $36,267.20

The above analysis shows the decade-long investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 13.75%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $36,267.20 today (as of 10/19/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 262.81% (something to think about: how might CMG 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:
“One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute.” — William Feather