I'm a fan of buy and hold investing and believe it is one of the best ways to grow your wealth.

To demonstrate just how successful this investment strategy can be with ASX 200 shares, I often like to see how much a single $20,000 investment in certain ASX 200 shares 10 years ago would be worth today.

Let's see how investments in these shares have fared during the past decade:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

This industrial property company has been a great place to invest over the past decade.

This has been driven by the ASX 200 share's highly successful strategy of investing in and developing high quality industrial properties in strategic locations close to large urban populations and in and around major gateway cities globally.

This focus has underpinned strong earnings growth over the period, which has led to its shares generating an average 20.9% per annum return over the period. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into approximately $133,000.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)

Another ASX 200 share that has been a great place to park your money over the decade has been Northern Star.

It is one of Australia's largest gold miners. Though, this wasn't always the case. Over the 10 years the Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) owner has transformed from a relatively small player into the gold giant it is today.

Together with a strong gold price in recent years, this has supported a huge increase in its earnings. For example, in FY 2014, Northern Star posted a profit of $38.6 million. Whereas in FY 2024, its profit came in at approximately $639 million.

This has led to the gold miner's shares delivering a whopping average return of 28% per annum for investors over the 10 years. This means that a $20,000 investment back in 2014 would now be worth approximately $235,000.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

Finally, a third ASX 200 share that has delivered market-beating returns for investors since 2014 is ResMed. It is a leading medical device company with a focus on the growing sleep disorder treatment market.

Thanks to the growing awareness of sleep disorders, such as sleep apnoea, and its industry-leading masks and software solutions, ResMed has consistently reported strong sales and earnings growth over the past decade.

This has led to its shares providing investors with an average total return of 18.5% per annum over the period. This means that a $20,000 investment 10 years ago would now be worth approximately $110,000.

In total, that means that $60,000 invested across these three ASX 200 shares would now be worth approximately $478,000.