Invested
$36,000
Dollar-Cost Averaging Calculator
See what investing a fixed amount every month could grow into.
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Invest each month
yrs
%
Ending value
$54,884
Investing $300/mo for 10 years grows to about $54,884.
Ending value
$54,884
Growth
$18,884
reckon.tools
How this is calculated
We grow every monthly contribution at your expected return and add them up. This is the future value of a monthly series,
fv = deposit x ((1+r)^n - 1) / r, where r is the monthly rate and n is the number of months. Any starting balance grows on its own on top.The math is the easy part. Actually investing every month is where most people fall off.
Automate the habit with OpenTradeEstimate based on your inputs. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
How dollar-cost averaging works
Dollar-cost averaging means investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule, regardless of what the market is doing that day. This calculator grows each contribution at your expected return and adds them up.
- Pick a monthly amount you can invest without missing it.
- Each contribution is invested and grows at your expected return until the end of the period.
- The tool sums every contribution's future value to show your ending value and the growth on top of what you put in.
Is DCA better than a lump sum?
On average, putting a lump sum to work sooner has historically edged out spreading it in, because markets tend to rise over long stretches. But most people are not sitting on a lump sum, they are investing a slice of each paycheck. Dollar-cost averaging fits that reality and takes the pressure of timing the market off your shoulders.
What return should I assume?
A common long-run reference for a broad US stock index is around 7 to 10 percent per year before inflation. That is an average across decades; single years swing hard in both directions, and any year can be negative.