Dollar-cost averaging calculator
Buy a fixed amount on a fixed schedule, regardless of price. This runs that strategy against real weekly closes from the exchange — not a smoothed model — so the drawdowns in the result are the ones that actually happened.
- Total invested
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- Number of buys
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- Units accumulated
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- Average entry price
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- Current price
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- Fees paid
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- Worst drawdown along the way
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Portfolio value versus money in
The lower line is what you put in; the upper line is what it was worth. The gap between them is the return, and the moments they cross are the periods people stop buying.
What DCA does and does not do
Dollar-cost averaging is a discipline device, not an edge. Buying at fixed intervals means you buy more units when prices are low and fewer when they are high, which pulls your average entry below the average price over the period. It does not protect against an asset that simply falls and stays down — your average entry is lower, but it is still above the price.
Studies of lump-sum versus DCA in traditional markets consistently find lump-sum wins more often, because markets rise more often than they fall. DCA wins on the behavioural side: it is considerably easier to keep doing during a 70% drawdown, and the strategy you can actually stick to beats the one you abandon.