Investment

What to know about dollar-cost averaging, an investing strategy to consider during market volatility – CNBC

Published

2 years ago

July 16, 2022

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If you’re already contributing money to a 401(k) retirement account, you may not have realized it, but you’re practicing a popular investment strategy known as dollar-cost averaging.

Simply put, this approach means you’re investing fixed, equal amounts on a regular basis, say monthly or bi-weekly, rather than investing one lump sum of cash all at once.

With a defined 401(k) contribution plan, for example, you’re investing as you earn, regularly taking money from each paycheck throughout the year and putting it into the market. Dollar-cost averaging could also look like if you decide to invest $5,000 of your savings by splitting that cash into five parts, where $1,000 is invested each month for five months.

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Here’s what to know about dollar-cost averaging

Dollar-cost averaging allows you to spread out your investments and buy into the market at different times at varying prices. In turn, these purchase prices ideally balance each other out, which is where the “averaging” part of the phrase comes from.

Experts often recommend this long-term investing approach (especially with broad market-tracking index funds) to people with low-risk appetites since contributing cash consistently over time reduces the impact of any market volatility on an investment. Not to mention, it allows investors to forget about the up and down movements of the market since their contributions aren’t influenced by what’s happening; they’re making contributions at regular intervals no matter what. This helps leave emotion-based investing off the table.

Dollar-cost averaging vs. lump-sum investing

Dollar-cost averaging is often compared with its antithesis, lump-sum investing, an opposite approach otherwise known as simply timing the market.

Like dollar-cost averaging, lump-sum investing can also help you build wealth — and even better, maximize your returns — albeit with the caveat that you’re taking on much more risk. After all, as we all know, no one can really time the market.

When investing a big wad of cash into the market all at once, your money gets put to work immediately. With dollar-cost averaging, however, only some of your money goes into the market to start and the rest is set aside for future contributions — this could allow you to catch future dips in the market, but your immediate gains may be smaller if the market takes off sooner than expected.

Is dollar-cost averaging right for you?

When investing with any method or strategy, the first step is to identify the potential returns as well as your risk tolerance.

Though you may get better returns over time with lump-sum investing, it’s not a good idea for those looking to lower their short-term downside risk since the potential for loss is greater.

Risk-averse investors, or those worried about market volatility, are better off using the dollar-cost averaging investment approach. A good place to start is with an S&P 500 index fund which has shown an average annualized return of approximately 10% since 1957.

For example, Charles Schwab’s S&P 500 Index Fund is a straightforward option with no investment minimum. Its expense ratio is 0.02%, meaning every $10,000 invested costs $2 annually — index funds generally have a 0.2% expense ratio, so this is notably low.

Charles Schwab

Minimum deposit and balance

Minimum deposit and balance requirements may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. No account minimum for active investing through Schwab One^® Brokerage Account. Automated investing through Schwab Intelligent Portfolios^® requires a $5,000 minimum deposit
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Robo-advisor: Schwab Intelligent Portfolios^® and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium™ IRA: Charles Schwab Traditional, Roth, Rollover, Inherited and Custodial IRAs; plus, a Personal Choice Retirement Account^® (PCRA) Brokerage and trading: Schwab One^® Brokerage Account, Brokerage Account + Specialized Platforms and Support for Trading, Schwab Global Account™ and Schwab Organization Account
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For an option with no expense ratio, consider the Fidelity ZERO^® Large Cap Index Fund. Though the fund doesn’t technically track the S&P 500, the Fidelity U.S. Large Cap Index tracks large capitalization stocks, which the website says, “are considered to be stocks of the largest 500 U.S. companies.”

Fidelity Investments

Minimum deposit and balance

Minimum deposit and balance requirements may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. No minimum to open a Fidelity Go account, but minimum $10 balance for robo-advisor to start investing. Minimum $25,000 balance for Fidelity Personalized Planning & Advice
Fees

Fees may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. Zero commission fees for stock, ETF, options trades and some mutual funds; zero transaction fees for over 3,400 mutual funds; $0.65 per options contract. Fidelity Go is free for balances under $10,000 (after, $3 per month for balances between $10,000 and $49,999; 0.35% for balances over $50,000). Fidelity Personalized Planning & Advice has a 0.50% advisory fee
Bonus
Investment vehicles

Robo-advisor: Fidelity Go® and Fidelity^® Personalized Planning & Advice IRA: Fidelity Investments Traditional, Roth and Rollover IRAs Brokerage and trading: Fidelity Investments Trading Other: Fidelity Investments 529 College Savings; Fidelity HSA^®
Investment options

Stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, CDs, options and fractional shares
Educational resources

Extensive tools and industry-leading, in-depth research from 20-plus independent providers

Terms apply.

You can also consider investing a fixed monthly amount through a robo-advisor like Betterment, which will create a custom portfolio of ETFs (which are similar to index funds) for you based on your risk tolerance and investing horizon.

Betterment

On Betterment’s secure site

Minimum deposit and balance

Minimum deposit and balance requirements may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. For Betterment Digital Investing, $0 minimum balance; Premium Investing requires a $100,000 minimum balance
Fees

Fees may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. For Betterment Digital Investing, 0.25% of your fund balance as an annual account fee; Premium Investing has a 0.40% annual fee
Bonus

Up to one year of free management service with a qualifying deposit within 45 days of signup. Valid only for new individual investment accounts with Betterment LLC
Investment vehicles
Investment options

Stocks, bonds, ETFs and cash
Educational resources

Betterment RetireGuide™ helps users plan for retirement

Terms apply.

Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

3 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

4 weeks ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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