Tool · Historical comparison
The same year, two stories.
The Vanguard finding
67%
Roughly the share of 12-month windows since 1926 in which putting the full amount in on day one beat the same amount spread monthly. Markets go up more often than they go down, so the early-money strategy benefits more often. The interesting cases are the other 33%: years where the market spent most of its time below the start, and DCA bought cheaper on average.
Same year, two strategies
Lump sum on day one
$7,416
Spread monthly · DCA
$8,800
Gap at year-end
+$1,384
DCA wins
2008
2008
The bear of a generation. DCA bought through every leg down and finished noticeably ahead, though both ended badly.
Total invested over the year$12,000
$6,000$60,000
Stylized monthly paths matching the documented annual S&P 500 price-index return and the major intra-year moves of each year. Educational, not tick-accurate. The lesson, not the digits, is the point.
From Lesson 11
Dollar-cost averaging
This explorer is part of a longer lesson on dollar-cost averaging: why timing the market matters less than time in the market, and why the real question is whether you can sit on your savings without flinching.
Read the full lesson →