“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 two-decade holding period possibly?
Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE: EW) back in 2005: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full two-decade investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 20 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.
| Start date: | 12/27/2005 |
|
|||
| End date: | 12/24/2025 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $3.48 | ||||
| End price/share: | $86.29 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 2,873.56 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 2,873.56 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 2,379.60% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 17.41% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $248,018.29 | ||||
As shown above, the two-decade investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 17.41%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $248,018.29 today (as of 12/24/2025). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 2,379.60% (something to think about: how might EW shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
One more piece of investment wisdom to leave you with:
“The greater the passive income you can build, the freer you will become.” — Todd Fleming
