Dollar-cost averaging
Often shortened to DCA. The practice of investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule (e.g. every paycheck) regardless of market conditions. Smooths out the price you pay over time and removes the temptation to time the market.
$1,000 invested every month for a year, regardless of whether the market is up or down that month.
Dollar-cost averaging
This term appears in a longer lesson, where the idea gets the proper treatment with examples and a working visualization.
Read the lesson →Trade-offs
Risk
The chance that an investment loses value — and how much it could lose.
Read →Volatility
How wildly an investment's price moves up and down. High volatility = bigger swings.
Read →Diversification
Spreading money across many different things so no single one can sink you.
Read →Bull & bear market
Long stretches of rising prices (bull) or falling prices (bear). Both end, eventually.
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