Dollar-Cost Averaging

Dollar-cost averaging is a discipline, not a prediction. Instead of trying to time a lump-sum entry, you commit to investing the same fixed amount at regular intervals — say every two weeks or every month — no matter what the market is doing. Because the amount is fixed, that money automatically buys more shares when prices are down and fewer when prices are up.

The mechanics are simple and automatic:

• You pick an amount and a cadence (e.g., a fixed sum each month).
• Each interval, that sum buys whatever number of shares it can at the current price.
• Over time your average cost per share smooths out — it can even end up below the simple average price, because more of your money went in at lower prices.

DCA removes the emotional pressure of picking a moment. It's the opposite of trying to buy the exact bottom, and it dovetails with long-horizon approaches like broad-index and dividend investing.

DCA's real value is behavioral: it keeps you investing through downturns — exactly when fear makes people stop — and it removes the paralysis of trying to time entries. The honest trade-off: research shows lump-sum investing often comes out ahead on average because markets tend to rise over time, but DCA reduces the regret and risk of putting everything in right before a drop. For most people investing from a paycheck, DCA is simply how it naturally works.

DCA is a long-horizon investing habit, distinct from the shorter-horizon swing setups Entry Point Trading's daily signal focuses on. We teach both mindsets in the open, and make no return claims.