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“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 Amazon.com Inc (NASD: AMZN) back in 2019: 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: 12/27/2019
$10,000

12/27/2019
  $24,289

12/26/2024
End date: 12/26/2024
Start price/share: $93.49
End price/share: $227.05
Starting shares: 106.96
Ending shares: 106.96
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 142.86%
Average annual return: 19.41%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $24,289.28

The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 19.41%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $24,289.28 today (as of 12/26/2024). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 142.86% (something to think about: how might AMZN shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

More investment wisdom to ponder:
“The greater the passive income you can build, the freer you will become.” — Todd Fleming