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there have been great discussion over Monthly DCA vs Weekly DCA.
(If you agree with me, please save and share this post to anyone asking whether they should monthly DCA or weekly DCA.)
I have decided to create a simulation using Excel with the following configuration: - Annual investment: $12000 - Investment Period: 10 years (01 Jan 2021 to 31 Dec 2030) - The daily unit price changes: Random between 5% to -4.7%
Based on the above, Monthly DCA amount: $12000 / 12mth = $1000 4x DCA per mth amount: $12000 / 12mth / 4 deposits = $250 Weekly DCA amount: $12000 / (365.25 days / 7 days) = $230.136986 Annually DCA amount: $12000
== For monthly Investment, I plotted a table, to compare the returns if I invest in every 1st of the month, 2nd of the month, 3rd of the month, ... , all the way to 28 of the month. - 1st of every month - 2nd of every month - 3rd of every month - .. - 28th of every month
(I didn't go up to 29, 30 and 31 of every month, because not every month also have the date. And I think 28 days is more than enough for this experiment)
Then review the investment return by calculating the unit obtains x the unit price as of 31 Dec 2030.
So, I have 28 results for me to compare what is the different if I invest in any day of the month
== For 4x DCA per mth, I chosen the following combination dates: - 1, 8, 15, 22 - 2, 9, 16, 23 - 3, 10, 17, 24 - 4, 11, 18, 25 - 5, 12, 19, 26 - 6, 13, 20, 27 - 7, 14, 21, 28
So, I have 7 set of results to compare.
== For weekly is easy, I simulate if I deposit on every: - Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - ... - Saturday
I also have 7 set of results to compare
== For Annually, I didn't want to create 365 sets of result, so I only invested on every 1st of each month - 1st Jan - 1st Feb - 1st Mar - ... - 1st Dec
So, I have 12 returns to compare
== BONUS!!
I also simulated daily DCA! Yes, daily! Daily DCA amount: $12000 / 365.25 days = $32.85421
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P/S and conclusions: - of course, this is just a simple simulation, it does not take in all variables in the real life stock market - The results are also predictable and expected: -- Since I have fixed observation date (31 Dec 2030), the earlier I invest will get more time for the power of compounding -- weekly DCA does not guarantee better returns. It is only means your DCA is more average than monthly DCA. -- the daily DCA returns is lower than average of other DCA frequency due to the same reason, many of the deposits doesn't have enough time for the power of compounding -- conclusion, it doesn't really matter if we are DCA daily, weekly or monthly. -- The more frequent you deposit, doesn't guarantee the better returns; it is means your dollar cost averaging is more averaging than others. -- for investment in stashaway, time in market is better than time the market. So, just monthly/weekly/daily DCA as you wish.
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