“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 Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MHK) back in 2001: 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: | 08/13/2001 |
|
|||
End date: | 08/11/2021 | ||||
Start price/share: | $44.05 | ||||
End price/share: | $208.51 | ||||
Starting shares: | 227.01 | ||||
Ending shares: | 227.01 | ||||
Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
Total return: | 373.35% | ||||
Average annual return: | 8.08% | ||||
Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
Ending investment: | $47,335.19 |
As shown above, the two-decade investment result worked out well, with an annualized rate of return of 8.08%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $47,335.19 today (as of 08/11/2021). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 373.35% (something to think about: how might MHK shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
One more investment quote to leave you with:
“Sentimentality about an investments leads to lack of discipline.” — Sam Zell