Dollar Cost Averaging

Let's assume an investor decides to purchase $1,000 worth of XYZ Corp. at the same time every month for four months. In this example, we'll also assume that the stock first declines in value, but then rallies strongly.

As you can see in the table above, using a dollar cost averaging strategy the investor would have purchased 272.22 shares for a total of $4,000. His/her average price per share for this period would have been just $14.69 (calculated as follows: $4000 / 272.22 = $14.69). With the stock ending at $18 at the end of this period, the investor's total position would now be worth $4,900 (calculated as follows: 272.22 shares * $18 = $4,900). As a result, the investor would actually show a profit of $900 on his/her overall position despite the fact that the stock declined in value over the full four-month time period (dropping from $20 to $18).

By comparison, if the investor had decided to invest $4,000 in shares of XYZ Corp. all at once at the beginning of this period, then he/she would have purchased 200 shares at a price of $20 per share. With the stock finishing at $18 at the end of the four months, the investor would have shown a net loss of -$400 on the stock.

This example clearly illustrates the benefits of dollar cost averaging, especially during periods of volatile share prices.