How Often Should You Dollar-Cost Average?

How Often Should You Dollar-Cost Average?

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[gMagicScott]

This year I switched my Roth IRA contribution from monthly to weekly. But that was primarily because $125/week works out evenly for the new max this year. Didn't really consider the dca in the decision

[iamjacquesbarjon]

I have my auto withdrawal from my checking account into my brokerage account for once a week on Mondays. I like the way it feels on Monday morning to start my week with the notification that my trades have been successfully executed without me even doing anything.

[freedomring]

I do it 3 times a month. Fidelity has an auto investment tool that you can set up and have as many as possible.

[me]

I do it every time I get paid x2. Right now, since I get paid monthly, I DCA twice a month.

[chrishayes]

401k and hsa are dca'd every 2 weeks. Ramping up those set it and forget it repeating contributions are such great wealth growing engines.

For the roth ira i dont automate and usually contribute to it over 2 or 3 periods (usually corresponding with those lovely 3 paycheck months 😅). But i do enjoy being opportunistic with that account and buying some dips when I can.

[JakeSpradlin]

ABB always be buying! I do twice a month corresponding with my employers payroll

[Dagzfromearth]

i DCA every paycheck. Into my 401k and roth 401k, just paychecks. In my roth IRA, every paycheck i add, plus, during the week, if i see something fall, i'll add a little more.

[justinhoskins]

I'm doing daily M-F. Right now where I got a really good paying job I'm doing 50 dollars per day 5 days a week. Once my job comes to an end I'll do my best to maintain that but may have to temporarily come down to 25$ a day. Main reason I like doing it daily in the morning is that I read somewhere that 46% of the time from day to day that market opens down. So it may be small but I'll capture any tiny return I can.

[rr.]

Can relate with Brian. I've always liked to put money every week, just because it feels satisfying seeing it grow per week rather than monthly/etc. Only buying when stocks go down for that week.

Something to look forward to every week.

[redhawks]

I started off putting just $20 to $25 a week almost 2 years ago. At points I went up to like $50 a week. I'm back down to $20 a week right now, changes to my income right now, I've put in about 10 grand.

[davidtvedte]

In early retirement I do not have as much regular income. I am basically living off a divorce settlement payment plus income from 1 rental unit. I do however use my Fidelity Visa card and other credit cards to get cash rewards. The Fidelity Card deposits my rewards into my brokerage account every month. With my other cards when I take the reward I also add it to my brokerage account. I do pay most of my expenses with a credit card and then pay the balance off every month. With spending around $1500 a month I have accumulated $650 in 14 months. I'm currently figuring that into my retirement income at about $40 a month. Every little bit helps.

[bryan__m]

I'm able to DCA every Friday right now because I get paid weekly. I'm about to be paid on the 15th and 30th (because we got bought out by a company with a lazy payroll department) so now I'll only get to DCA twice a month 😥

[Jawrathful]

So am i crazy buying every single day? It's part of my morning routine and I love doing it. I have about 8 different funds that i like to buy. Whichever fund is down the most that day, that's the one I buy.

[Kornheiser]

If you're DCAing bonuses yearly, you'll likely be in the same time of year market cycle...as most bonuses are paid the same time each year. Likely not the benefit of DCA if that's what you want to do.

[psychedoutil]

Lump sum may work 8/10 times but them 2/10 hurt a lot. Imagine putting in at 1999 or 2000? Wow. That’s a couple of decades almost. I vote as frequently as possible. You ensure a true dollar cost average. I think tranches are the best with an increasing amount each time to lower the basis more. If you don’t catch it lower, then park the money somewhere else like a bond fund. Usually bond investors are more accurate on the direction of the market anyway. When the time comes, start backing up that truck and rebalance back to stocks.

[BrettsCorner]

I would say it would depend if the stock is on an upward or downward trend some of mine ite invest daily like S&P 500 reality income reality income so I get the dividend snowball effect.

[wichertj]

Im debating on doing a lump sum for my roth IRA and contribute the annual limit. Thoughts?

[MC-gjfg]

Why Friday? I thought the market has historically been lowest, on average, on Monday.

[AQJ_DK]

I have my investments on an auto-withdrawal every Monday. So nice to not fen think about and just see the line go up over time

[JC-rgqp]

…….. so no facts or figures (charts of how the two might differ in a bear or bull market or in general)… we’re just going to talk about our feelings eh? K.