“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 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 ten year holding period possibly?
Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASD: EA) back in 2009: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full ten year investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 10 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.
| Start date: | 04/09/2009 |
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| End date: | 04/08/2019 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $19.69 | ||||
| End price/share: | $97.95 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 507.87 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 507.87 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 397.46% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 17.40% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $49,759.02 | ||||
The above analysis shows the ten year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 17.40%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $49,759.02 today (as of 04/08/2019). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 397.46% (something to think about: how might EA shares perform over the next 10 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
Another great investment quote to think about:
“The most important three words in investing is: “I don’t know.†If someone doesn’t say that to you then they are lying.” — James Altucher
