# Buy and Hold Investing Strategy: A Guide to Long-Term Success

## What Is Buy and Hold?

Buy and hold is a passive strategy where an investor buys stocks or ETFs and keeps them over a long period, despite market ups and downs. An investor who uses a buy-and-hold strategy actively selects investments but has no concern for short-term price movements and [technical indicators](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/technicalindicator.asp). Legendary investors like Warren Buffett and Jack Bogle recommend buy-and-hold for those seeking long-term returns.

### Key Takeaways

*   The buy-and-hold strategy involves purchasing stocks (or other securities) and maintaining the investment over a long period, ignoring short-term market fluctuations. This approach is praised by renowned investors like Warren Buffett for its potential to yield significant long-term returns.  
    
*   Buy-and-hold investors benefit from tax advantages, such as deferring capital gains taxes on long-term investments, which can contribute to overall portfolio performance. This strategy is often contrasted with active investing, where frequent buying and selling incur higher tax liabilities and transaction fees.  
    
*   Owning shares grants investors certain rights, like voting on important company decisions, which can influence a company's direction. Committed shareholders often adopt a buy-and-hold approach, riding out both bull and bear markets, which can lead to substantial gains over time.  
    
*   The debate between passive and active management persists; however, historical data tends to show that passive, buy-and-hold strategies often outperform active management over long time frames, particularly after accounting for fees and taxes.  
    
*   An illustration of the buy-and-hold strategy's effectiveness is the case of Apple stock, where holding shares over a decade resulted in substantial gains, despite market fluctuations. This demonstrates the potential for significant appreciation through long-term commitment.

## Understanding the Mechanics of Buy and Hold Investing

Conventional investing wisdom shows that with a long time horizon, equities render a higher return than other [asset classes](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/assetclasses.asp) such as bonds. There's debate over whether buy-and-hold is better than [active investing](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/activeinvesting.asp). [Both sides have valid arguments](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/08/passive-active-investing.asp), but a buy-and-hold strategy has tax benefits because the investor can defer capital gains taxes on long-term investments.

Buying shares of stock means owning a piece of the company. Ownership brings privileges, like voting rights and a share in the company's profits as it grows. [Shareholders](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholder.asp) function as direct decision makers with their number of votes being equal to the number of shares they hold. Shareholders vote on critical issues, such as [mergers and acquisitions](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mergersandacquisitions.asp), and elect directors to the board. Activist investors with substantial holdings wield considerable influence over management often seeking to gain representation on the board of directors.

Recognizing that change takes time, committed shareholders [adopt buy and hold strategies](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/fundamental-analysis/09/long-term-stock-pick.asp). Rather than treating ownership as a short-term vehicle for profit in the mode of a day trader, buy-and-hold investors keep shares through the bull and [bear markets](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bearmarket.asp). Equity owners thus bear the ultimate risk of failure or the supreme reward of substantial appreciation.

> **Fast Fact**
>
> Buy and hold is often also called position trading.

## Comparing Active Management and Buy-and-Hold Strategies

The debate over [passive](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/passiveinvesting.asp) versus active management styles persists. A buy-and-hold investor reflects a [passive management style](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/070715/pros-cons-passive-buy-and-hold-strategy.asp). In the case of a mutual fund or [exchange-traded fund](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/etf.asp), indexed portfolios mirror that of a common benchmark.

As indices rebalance and weightings increase relative to market capitalization, turnover rates, which are often under 5% among passive funds (such as an S&P 500 Index portfolio), remain ultra-low as managers focus on issues across the broad market. Stocks are held for as long as they remain components of the indices.

> **Important**
>
> Even though you hold the securities you buy for the long-term, you still need to consider price fluctuations and pay attention to their performance.

## Real-Life Success with the Buy-and-Hold Approach

A good example of buy-and-hold is the purchase of Apple (AAPL) stock. If an investor bought 100 shares at [$18](https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/quote/historical?Symbol=AAPL&Year=2017&Range=12&Month=5) in January 2008 and held them until January 2019, the stock rose to $157. That’s a return of nearly 900% in just over 10 years.

Those arguing against using a long-term strategy claim that investors forsake gains by riding out volatility rather than locking in gains and miss out on timing the market. There are some professionals who regularly succeed with short-term trading strategies, but the risks can be higher. Investment success is also realized by loyalty, commitment to ownership and the simple pursuit of standing pat or not moving from a chosen position.