News about long-term investing

A Motley Fool article uses Spotify (SPOT) as an example: a Rule Breakers recommendation in early 2022 at about $209 a share fell to about $69 by the end of that year, a drop of roughly two-thirds. The authors argue that down markets are normal and that investors should prepare for them rather than try to predict downturns, using rules such as holding stocks for at least three years, capping an initial position at 5%, and reviewing holdings quarterly. They also stress defining each portfolio's purpose and timeline, saying money in the market should be money you can leave invested for at least five years. As of the latest close cited, Spotify was up about 156% since the recommendation, roughly 71 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500.

Using data from NYU Stern professor Aswath Damodaran, the S&P 500 gained about 10.6% a year with dividends reinvested from 1957 through 2025, yet only four of those 69 years (1968, 1993, 2004 and 2016) returned between 8% and 12%. Fifteen years lost money and 25 gained more than 20%; the best year was 1958 (about 44%) and the worst was 2008 (a fall of about 37%). The 10% average appeared more often over longer periods: 13 of 60 rolling 10-year periods, 27 of 50 20-year periods and 30 of 40 30-year periods landed in the 8–12% range, and every 30-year period gained between about 9.6% and 13.6% a year. As of writing, the index was up about 14% for 2026. The author considers 10% a sensible planning figure for buy-and-hold investors over 20 to 30 years, but not one to rely on in any single year.

Berkshire Hathaway, now run by Greg Abel, collected $479 million in dividends from its American Express stake in 2025, against a total cost of $1.3 billion for shares bought over several years ending in 1995. At the end of 2025 Berkshire owned 22% of American Express, a stake then worth $56 billion. The annual dividend rose from $1.22 per share in 2016 to $2.08 in 2022 and $3.54 more recently, even though the current yield is only 1.2%. The article notes that American Express's second-quarter EPS rose 11% and revenue rose 10%, and that its forward P/E of 15.3 is below its five-year average of 16.8. It uses this case to highlight the value of holding growing dividend payers over the long term.