“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five 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 five year holding period possibly?
Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into Tesla Inc (NASD: TSLA) back in 2021: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full five year investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 5 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.
| Start date: | 02/24/2021 |
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| End date: | 02/23/2026 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $247.34 | ||||
| End price/share: | $399.83 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 40.43 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 40.43 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 61.65% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 10.08% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $16,163.75 | ||||
The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 10.08%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $16,163.75 today (as of 02/23/2026). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 61.65% (something to think about: how might TSLA shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
One more investment quote to leave you with:
“You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don’t understand that’s going to happen, then you’re not ready, you won’t do well in the markets.” — Peter Lynch
