I'm a big fan of buy and hold investing and believe it is one of the best ways to grow your wealth.
To demonstrate just how successful this investment strategy can be with shares, I like to see how much a single $20,000 investment in certain ASX 200 shares 10 years ago would be worth today.
Let's see how investments in these shares have fared during this time:
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)
This banking giant's shares were on fire last year and delivered mouth-watering returns for investors.
Things aren't quite as positive on a longer term basis, with Australia's largest bank recording a return that was a touch below the historical market return.
Since this time in 2015, the ASX 200 share has generated an average total return (including dividends) of approximately 8.9% per annum.
Nevertheless, this means that if you had invested $20,000 into CBA's shares 10 years ago, you would have now have approximately $47,000.
Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Goodman has been one of the most consistent ASX 200 shares out there over the past decade.
Thanks to the industrial property company's highly successful strategy of investing in and developing high quality properties in strategic locations close to large urban populations and in and around major gateway cities globally, Goodman has delivered strong earnings growth year in and year out.
This has put a rocket under Goodman's shares during the period. As a result, its shares have generated an average total return of 21.2% per annum for investors since 2015. This would have turned a $20,000 investment 10 years ago into approximately $137,000 today.
Cochlear Ltd (ASX: COH)
Thanks to its exposure to ageing populations across the globe and its consistent and substantial investment in research and development activities, hearing solutions company Cochlear has been a great place to invest over the past decade.
The popularity of its products and wide distribution network have underpinned strong earnings growth since 2015. And, as you might expect, this has done wonders for its shares over the period.
So much so, they have averaged a total return of 15.2% per annum during the past 10 years. This means that if you had invested $20,000 into this ASX 200 share a decade ago, you would have seen your investment grow to be worth over $82,000 in January 2025.
Combined, that means that $20,000 invested into all three shares would now be worth approximately $266,000. That's $200,000 more than we started with.
