as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
system
does dollar cost averaging really work?
user
if you define dollar cost cost averaging as investing a specific dollar amount over a certain fixed time frame then it does not work statistically better than any other strategy for getting that money in the market.  (ie aunt ruth wants to invest $60,000 in the stock market and does it $5000 a month for a year.) it will work better on some markets and worse on others, but on average it won't be any better. dollar cost averaging of this form is effectively a bet that gains will occur at the end of the time period rather than the beginning, sometimes this bet will pay off, other times it won't. a regular investment contribution of what you can afford over an indefinite time period (ie 401k contribution) is not dollar cost averaging but it is an effective investment strategy.
assistant