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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

This inspiring quote from Warren Buffett teaches us the importance of considering our investment time horizon when approaching any given investment: Could we envision ourselves holding the stock we are considering for many years? Even a five year holding period potentially?

For “buy-and-hold” investors taking a long-term view, what’s important isn’t the short-term stock market fluctuations that will inevitably occur, but what happens over the long haul. Looking back 5 years to 2019, investors considering an investment into shares of Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MHK) may have been pondering this very question and thinking about their potential investment result over a full five year time horizon. Here’s how that would have worked out.

Start date: 08/20/2019
$10,000

08/20/2019
  $13,214

08/19/2024
End date: 08/19/2024
Start price/share: $113.03
End price/share: $149.38
Starting shares: 88.47
Ending shares: 88.47
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 32.16%
Average annual return: 5.73%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $13,214.70

The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out well, with an annualized rate of return of 5.73%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $13,214.70 today (as of 08/19/2024). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 32.16% (something to think about: how might MHK shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

One more piece of investment wisdom to leave you with:
“The person who starts simply with the idea of getting rich won’t succeed; you must have a larger ambition.” — John Rockefeller