I have an old 401k plan. A 401k plan is an employer-sponsored retirement plan that the employer may or may not provide a match in and may or may not have a vesting schedule that also is part of the plan.After checking my Vanguard 401k account today, as Vanguard houses my old 401k from when I left my employer almost 6 years ago, I was shocked when I saw the value.I was able to filter their time-frame to see the returns over the last 5 years and…my 401k doubled in 5 yearsI noticed my 401k has had immense growth. In fact, since May of 2019, my portfolio has doubled in value. What have I done to this old 401k plan since I left my old employer?Nothing.I have not done a single thing. I have not rolled my 401k, yet. I have not added anything to it since then or kept it at Vanguard in an IRA, nor have I changed it’s investment from what mutual fund I currently have.What mutual fund am I invested in? Vanguard Institutional Index Fund Institutional Shares (VINIX) is my sole investment within this 401k.What activities have occurred in the 5 years?Market Appreciation.Dividends.Patience/Buy and hold.Those 3 areas of investment are what catapulted my old 401k to new heights! What does the chart look like? The 401k chartThere she is! What a beautiful chart. That was a 5 year time frame you see above. May 2019 to May 2024.Along the way, I have gone back and forth with moving out of Vanguard and going into Fidelity or SoFi. However, I haven’t and the results are still rock solid.The most difficult part was being patient and not moving this into another stock or ETF or other asset class. I know many that have moved and tried to jump on the hot stock pick or another investment class, which has not gone well at all.There are a lot of lessons from just this one snapshot everyone.lessonsBuy and hold for the long-term works. If the above chart isn’t evidence enough, I am not sure what is. Being patient, limited on emotions, will help you achieve incredible results.Boring is good. The investment in and of itself is super boring. The VINIX mutual fund tracks and aligns with the S&P 500. On average, the investment should return between 8%-12% per year, like clockwork.Dividends are powerful. Over the course of this time period, over $20,000 in dividends were earned and reinvested. The power of accumulating more shares, which again produces more income and also can appreciate is powerful. Compound interest baby!conclusionNow that I am on to almost my 6th year removed from the old 401k, where do I go from here?Let it ride baby! I’ve come this far and results of being patient are well produced here. In the next 5-10 years, I am going to assume this account will double again. I’ll be in my 40’s. What will be wild is when this account somehow becomes a million dollar valuation. It’s possible.What would you do in my position? Would you continue to let the compounding happen? Would you withdraw the old 401k and pick a different investment?If you would go to a new investment – what asset would that be? In addition, if you are leaving Vanguard, where or what brokerage would you take it to?Appreciate the feedback. Stay patient. Stay invested and let’s get to financial freedom everyone.-Lanny