Slow and Steady: The Power of Dollar-Cost Averaging

Discover how dollar-cost averaging can help investors manage the temptation to time the market and avoid panic selling.

Key Takeaways

  • Emotions can cloud your judgment when making investment decisions, especially during periods of market volatility.
  • One strategy that can help is dollar-cost averaging, in which investors purchase shares over time instead of as a single lump-sum investment.
  • This strategy can help manage the elevated behavioral risk associated with major buying decisions—especially during volatile markets that often lead to panic-selling and regret.
Wealth Management

Market Essentials

In this excerpt from the full report, we'll cover a strategy known as dollar-cost averaging.

The emotions that go along with investing often interfere with more rational decision making, leading to poor results. One way to mitigate emotions is to adopt a more formulaic approach, such as with the technique known as dollar-cost averaging. Dollar-cost averaging refers to a preset approach to when to invest, whereby shares are bought over time, rather than all at once in one lump sum. For example, a $300 investment might be made in six monthly installments of $50.

 

There are several advantages of dollar-cost averaging. First, it reduces the risk that major buying decisions are made right before an adverse move in the markets that can lead to panic selling, which locks in losses, demoralizes investors and is a notorious source of wealth destruction. The second primary advantage is that, because it exposes investors to less risk of immediate regret, it is a good way to get investors invested in the first place, knowing that the fear of regret is mitigated by the fact that most of the savings has been held back initially. By encouraging steady and ongoing investing and lessening the risk of panic selling, dollar-cost averaging encourages healthy investing habits that are the backbone of successful goal attainment.

 

To learn more, ask your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor for the Global Investment Office’s latest quarterly Market Essentials, which includes a review of recent market performance and highlights what may be ahead for key asset classes.

 

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