“When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”
— Warren Buffett
The above quote from Warren Buffett is timeless, and brings into focus the choice about time horizon that any investor should think about before buying a stock they are considering. Behind every stock is an actual business; what will that business look like over a two-decade period?
Today, let’s look backwards in time to 2005, and take a look at what happened to investors who asked that very question about Dollar Tree Inc (NASD: DLTR), by taking a look at the investment outcome over a two-decade holding period.
| Start date: | 10/10/2005 |
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| End date: | 10/09/2025 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $7.23 | ||||
| End price/share: | $89.02 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 1,383.13 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 1,383.13 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 1,131.26% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 13.37% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $123,185.67 | ||||
The above analysis shows the two-decade investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 13.37%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $123,185.67 today (as of 10/09/2025). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 1,131.26% (something to think about: how might DLTR 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:
“The person who starts simply with the idea of getting rich won’t succeed; you must have a larger ambition.” — John Rockefeller
