34 Years a Shareholder

Being invested in stocks is a kind of religion. After all, it takes a fair amount of faith to believe that you really do own a piece of a company.

Paper stock certificates made that faith much easier to sustain. On May 15, 1992, I bought one share of Walt Disney in my father’s name and had the certificate delivered. It read:

“This certifies that Franz Karas is the record holder of **ONE** full-paid and non-assessable shares of the common stock of The Walt Disney Company.”

A certificate simply has more presence than an electronic entry. And over such a long period, quite a bit has happened. The amount invested back then is now worth more than ten times as much. Well, almost. To get there, you would have had to reinvest all dividends, the so-called total return. The share price itself has “only” increased eightfold. Without dividends, that comes to 6.3% per year.

Past performance, as we all know, is no reliable indicator of future results. That warning applies to Disney stock as well, as the past five years have made particularly clear. The share price fell sharply, while the U.S. stock market charged ahead.

Over the past three decades, however, there have been worse investments than 7.3% per year including dividends. The real challenge is holding on for that long. Especially during difficult periods, like the one the company is going through now. Nobody can guarantee that things will get better.

Mickey Doesn’t Want a Raise

Because of the many practical hurdles involved, nobody sells a physical stock certificate. So I was forced into long-term thinking. Unfortunately, I bought only a single share, **ONE**, which was a poor decision. It leaves me with a story to tell, rather than millions to brag about.

In my defense, I knew none of this in 1992. I bought the Disney share purely for aesthetic reasons. But Mickey Mouse kept working and working, and he never asked for a raise.

At least today I can tell a good story. About long-term investing and the many advantages it brings.