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Investing is hard. Not because you can’t pick a good stock—but because holding it without a game plan can cost you years of compounding.

Let me be clear: this isn’t about throwing shade at the investor in the example below.

It’s a valuable lesson for all of us.

The Setup

Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) was recommended to Morningstar DividendInvestor subscribers in April 2005. The stock was praised for its durability and rising dividends—and for a while, it looked like a winner.

Fast forward to July 2025: the stock is trading at $20.54, nearly 20% below its 2005 price of $25.84. That’s 20 years of price stagnation—despite dividend growth along the way.

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What’s the Lesson?

You can be right in the short term—buy a good company, watch it run—but you still have to sell to realize gains. If you don’t, the market might take them back.

More importantly:

• Individual investing is not passive. You can’t “buy and forget.” You need to keep asking: does my original reason for investing still hold true?
• Price matters. Valuation matters. A stock can go nowhere for 20 years even if it’s a “good business.”
• Dividends don’t guarantee wealth. A 7.9% dividend growth sounds great… but if the share price collapses, your total return suffers.

The Risk of “Forever”

The popular advice is “just hold forever.”

That works in general—especially with indexes like the S&P 500. But when you apply that advice to individual companies without deep understanding, you risk:

• Holding with blind faith
• Ignoring better opportunities (opportunity cost)
• Watching your capital erode in real terms

Imagine holding CMP for 20 years and seeing your capital not grow at all. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 nearly tripled.

Bottom Line

If you’re investing in individual equities:

• ✅ Know what you own
• ✅ Know what it’s worth
• ✅ Reassess regularly
• ✅ Don’t outsource your conviction

Indexing works because it removes these decisions.

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Where knowledge compounds and the wise get wealthy.

High St. Wealth

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