what is long term 
 long term refers to the extended period of time that an asset is held depending on the type of security a long term asset can be held for as little as one year or for as long as 30 years or more generally speaking long term investing for individuals is often thought to be in the range of at least seven to 10 years of holding time although there is no absolute rule understanding long term long term is one of those phrases that is so ubiquitous in finance that it has become difficult to pin down a specific meaning the media frequently advises people to invest for the long term but determining whether or not an investment is long term is very subjective a day trader for example would define long term much differently than a buy and hold investor for the day trader a position held overnight would be a long term commitment for the buy and hold investor anything less than several years may be considered short term long term investing for companiesa long term investment is found on the asset side of a company s balance sheet representing the company s investments including stocks bonds real estate and cash that it intends to hold for more than a year 2