“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
— 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 twenty year holding period possibly?
Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into CBRE Group Inc (NYSE: CBRE) back in 2004: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full twenty year investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 20 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.
Start date: | 06/10/2004 |
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End date: | 03/11/2024 | ||||
Start price/share: | $18.35 | ||||
End price/share: | $93.45 | ||||
Starting shares: | 544.96 | ||||
Ending shares: | 544.96 | ||||
Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
Total return: | 409.26% | ||||
Average annual return: | 8.58% | ||||
Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
Ending investment: | $50,883.09 |
As shown above, the twenty year investment result worked out well, with an annualized rate of return of 8.58%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $50,883.09 today (as of 03/11/2024). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 409.26% (something to think about: how might CBRE shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
Another great investment quote to think about:
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein