r/investing • u/naturalhairtingz • 1d ago
The market’s plunging—who DCA’d during major crashes and came out ahead (until now)? I’d love to hear your stories.
We’re seeing some serious red right now, and it got me thinking—who here stuck to dollar-cost averaging (DCA) during the big COVID crash, or any other major drop in recent years?
If you rode the wave down and back up (at least until this current dip), what did that journey look like? What did you buy, how consistent were you, and how did it feel watching it rise over time?
I’d love to hear your experiences—whether you stayed the course, timed it well, or just kept buying no matter what. Let’s talk real returns, lessons learned, and maybe some confidence-building for folks who are new to all this.
95
u/Nosemyfart 1d ago
I was not investing during the 08-09 crash. But I started investing a little after that. I remember pouring money into VTI when it plunged during COVID. That worked out well. Then I bought for the 2 whole years that the market stayed stagnant between Dec 21- Dec 23. That worked out REALLY well when the market rocketed after that.
Now, I have been investing during one of the greatest bull markets ever, so of course I have rose colored glasses on. But, I still do believe that the best option for someone who still has 10+ years left to retire to just continue dca even during times like these. This is of course my 2c.
12
u/clammyanton 1d ago
agree. Long game wins. DCA takes the guesswork out and keeps you in the game no matter what the market’s doing.
1
u/ma2is 11h ago
I’m just worried about a multi decade long issue of redeveloping business relationships with other sovereign countries after the shit that our current administration has been doing. We’ve burned a lot of bridges that will take time to rebuild.
Out of country consensus on the US is very poor right now; business will prefer going to other nations and boycotting American businesses can linger. I fear decades of sideways markets with inflation, trade wars, even potential geopolitical wars between Greenland and the EU, etc.
I think it’s easy, conceptually, to buy the dip when the last 15+ years have rewarded those purchases within the next 2-3 years. But this dip might last 5, 6, 10 years. Who knows. I think people will sing a different tune in 18 months when the true costs of our new economy starts affecting people, along with inflation, job market scarcity, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to DCA but I have a feeling this is going to be a long haul.
1
u/LongjumpingPrint4511 8h ago
I think what "Hot_Frosting_7101" says makes a lot of sense. I believed in DCA, but might be worth revisiting at later stage of life??
148
u/timelostgirl 1d ago
Plenty of people dcad during covid and are still overall positive
82
u/boxesofcats 1d ago
All should be positive post covid
3
u/teh_longinator 1d ago
I was negative, which was the catalyst u needed to stop daytrading. Because I suck at it
3
1
30
u/GomaN1717 1d ago
Yup, this is me. Aggressively started investing in late February/early March 2020 when reddit was dooming, and those are still the sole investments keeping my portfolio in the green.
Definitely helps the "holding" case this time around especially after holding those through 2022 as well.
13
u/innocuous_gorilla 1d ago
I wasn’t really in a position to start investing (outside of my 401k) until early 2021. That was when I finally had money outside of my retirement and emergency fund and started to DCA it into S&P 500. When the pullback in 2022 happened, I stopped DCA’ing out of fear and I waited way too long to get back in. This time, I’ve learned to just continue the DCA and chill method. Much more stress free.
So basically, I did the opposite of what OP is asking and came out behind. So in theory, I should come out ahead by doing it properly this time.
17
u/Silversurf978 1d ago
Shortest Bear market in history - of course they are positive
6
12
u/HitboxOfASnail 1d ago
covid depression lasted like 2 weeks
9
u/timelostgirl 1d ago
We don't know what this will last either. The fact that the market spiked down the day after tarrif announcements, which aren't even affecting companies yet, indicates the current depression is not tied to reality and is all just fear.
→ More replies (1)2
2
u/Offduty_shill 1d ago
I mean if you started near 2020 you should def be positive. That's when I started and I made some bad decisions, tossed 20kish on DIS leaps, recently sold 180P for AVGO and about to take assignment....
But over this 4.5 year window I've still basically doubled my money
2
u/AlphabetSoupIsALie 1d ago
I did it right before everything crashed (like 2 days) and didn't get back into market in time to fully benefit from it.
1
1
→ More replies (1)1
u/reality72 1d ago edited 1d ago
I bought on the deepest red day during COVID and made out like a bandit. It was one of those days when the market trading was halted multiple times. Best investment decision I ever made. My only regret is not buying more shares.
56
u/DisastrousDance7372 1d ago
Literally every 401k millionaire.
35
u/sidurisadvice 1d ago
I became one of those recently! I'm not one anymore, though.
7
u/DisastrousDance7372 1d ago
I can only imagine how you feel.
10
u/sidurisadvice 1d ago
Meh. I've got some time still. Transitioning to an encore career in the near term seems less likely, though.
1
u/Inanimate_CARB0N_Rod 12h ago
You'll come back! I was almost halfway there before the drop. I haven't hit 40 yet, so if I want a comfortable retirement in 30 years I need to be a 401k millionaire 5 or 6 times over.
52
u/Hiker615 1d ago
I just kept buying. Through the Asian financial crash in the late 90s. Through the dot.com crash in the early 2000s. Through the 2008 global finance crash. Through the 2020 COVID crash. Retired at 56 and never have to work again.
24
8
u/davidloveasarson 1d ago
How are your holdings now, assuming you’re living off of a portfolio? I have a friend whose retirement portfolio is like $2 Million so he’s down like $300k this week.
13
u/Hiker615 1d ago
Once I retired I went to a more defensive portfolio, 60/40, since I'm now in withdrawal mode. Then with the recent election, I read over Project 2025 and I went 75% cash and cash equivalents beginning of the year. I'll go to 60/40 or so once the dust settles. I have a pension and other passive income, so I will hold off on selling for a bit to avoid turning paper losses into IRL.
2
5
u/NaiveChoiceMaker 1d ago
Your friend must be pretty aggressive in their retirement portfolio if they are down 15% this week. The S&P is off about 7.8% for the week.
3
u/b1gb0n312 16h ago
If your friend isn't close to retirement, he shouldn't be worrying and should continue throwing money into the msrkets
→ More replies (2)1
u/LongjumpingPrint4511 8h ago
15% this week, but I guess more earlier ???how is your friend feeling and dealing with it.... I am asking for my friend (myself.....)
3
u/Plane-Salamander2580 23h ago
What do you buy though? Stock picking or ETFs or mutual funds or something else?
1
u/Hiker615 9h ago
While I was in the accumulation phase, I was 90% SP500 index funds. Rest in some healthcare mutual funds like FSMEX, which did very well until last few years.
Once I retired, I was looking to reduce risk and create income. So I bought some individual income stocks (utilities, REITs, energy, BDCs) and some dividend ETFs. A bunch of treasuries, CDs, money market.
Right now I get about $1300 a month in tax free dividend income from Roth accounts, which is a nice supplement to my pension. I am making withdrawals from 401K and reinvesting a portion in taxable accounts (taxed as capital gains, instead of ordinary income), to reduce tax hit from RMDs later.
I continue to have SP500 index funds, and a reduced percent in healthcare funds.
Thanks to no longer saving/investing a high percent of my income, no more social security tax, a lower tax bracket, I have more spendable income now than I did when working.
48
u/DDRaptors 1d ago
I mean if you’re not DCAing during these events you’re either retired or close to it or you’re doing long term investing all wrong and bending to your emotions.
12
u/ofcourseIwantpickles 1d ago
The last time tariffs of this magnitude were put in place the market took 25 years to recover.
9
u/Downtown-Pineapple80 1d ago
If that’s the case anybody under 70 should be buying the dip.
→ More replies (1)2
u/posam 20h ago
Yeah, and DCA on the way down means you also continue doing so on the way back up. Only the pre crash investments are below the ATM high but there’s still gains from the low to the ride back up.
→ More replies (2)2
→ More replies (2)8
u/Hour_Writing_9805 1d ago
So if someone saw all the news on tariffs, knew the immediate economic outlook and liquidated some or all of their portfolio it’s likely emotional?
I’d the market goes down and takes 3-5 years to go back and people do not DCA during that time it is purely emotional?
9
u/Agastopia 1d ago
How do you know when the bottom will be? When will you buy back in?
You don’t know either of those things, which is why you should always be buying. Especially if you’re a long term investor. If you miss the top 10 best trading days, your return is cut in half. Do you know when those ten days will be?
12
u/Hour_Writing_9805 1d ago
You don’t need to get the bottom. People think you have to time the bottom too, just need to buy below what you sold at.
No one loses money taking profits.
6
u/MaxwellSmart07 1d ago
Why aren’t more people willing to accede to this simple logic? It’s certainly not mission impossible. Millions of people who pulled out in February can buy back Monday at substantial discounts and losses averted.
5
u/cythric 1d ago
They either can't cope with the idea that others are better at something or can't cope with the added stress of constantly digesting news and the impact it has on the market so they choose the path of least resistance and get annoyed when you mention they are willfully wearing blinders.
3
→ More replies (1)6
u/MaxwellSmart07 1d ago
You don’t need to sell at the absolute top or buy back at the absolute bottom. Anyone who went to cash in February or March can buy back in on Monday for substantial losses averted and get more shares . Just need to buy back at prices lower than they were sold at. That’s a WIN!
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)2
u/DDRaptors 1d ago
The problem I’ve found with going out and in, is you have to be right on your timing - twice - and usually you can see one side of that trade coming, but can’t see the other side of it. (This example & covid we knew we’d be tanking - but no one knows when the tables will turn).
So, I don’t even think about it and just continue to buy the companies and management teams I believe in and have studied and follow their business statements. When they’re on sale - even better.
4
u/Hour_Writing_9805 1d ago
As I said to another poster, you don’t lose money taking profits and you don’t need to buy at the bottom of the dip.
But if you make a choice on data and not emotion that is different from emotionally fear based decisions
→ More replies (1)3
u/MaxwellSmart07 1d ago
Yes. The bottom finding argument is a strawman’s argument. Any buy back below the sell price is a win!
3
u/Hour_Writing_9805 1d ago
Exactly.
Lots of data points have said this market was due for a correction. Maybe you pulled out earlier maybe it was 2 days ago, but if you took profit you didn’t lose money.
Goal is simple then buy back before it goes above when you sold.
7
u/MaxwellSmart07 1d ago
It’s astounding the DCA folks act like a cult that refuses to acknowledge such a simple concept. Are they just pissed-off/jealous some people scored a win by timing which they say is mission impossible?
→ More replies (2)
25
u/joecool0909 1d ago
Not DCAing during the down turns is like going to the gym, but still eating like crap and wondering why you cant lose weight. Throwing money in the market is easy and fun when its going up, but the real gains will be made on the investing you do while its going down.
9
u/bro-v-wade 1d ago
I DCAed through 2008-2011 because I was too young and clueless to know how to turn things off.
I am very very thankful for that.
8
u/siberianmi 1d ago
When the 2007 crisis hit, and my boss was trying to sell parts of her 401k to try to avoid further losses.
I doubled my contributions to my 401k, wish I had gone further.
1
u/dumplingboy199 2h ago
i actually just increased my 401k percentage this morning and advised my wife to do the same.
7
u/pr0b0ner 1d ago
Are you kidding me? If you don't DCA now then your strategy is to literally only buy high? How does that make sense?
I'll tell you exactly what you'll think "I wish I'd bought more when it was down".
I bought a good bit of Coinbase around $30-$50 and all I could think the whole ride up was "wish I'd bought more"
5
u/Spiritual-Profile419 1d ago
I retired in 2020, bear #1. 2022 bear #2, 2025, bear #3. I have more money today then in 2020 and that’s with taking out over $600,000 to live on. Relax, don’t sell.
1
8
u/boxesofcats 1d ago
Just checked and in 2022 my NW went down 20% (100k) in three months. Today my network is up 70% (280k) since then. So, I don’t regret weathering that storm (properly diversified)
1
u/b1gb0n312 16h ago
Same, not worried. In 2022 my portfolio went down to 700k, then went up to 1.6m this year and now back down to 1.4m
22
u/No2reddituser 1d ago
I was 1 day away from retirement...
8
u/RJ5R 1d ago
You won't be needing all of this money in day 1 of retirement though. So you won't have to lock in any losses and sell to withdraw money unless you have a large major purpose lined up.
Most people I know who entered into retirement, tried to leave their 401K alone as much as possible unless absolutely needed, or they were forced to withdraw due to RMDs. Or they simply shaved off little bits here and there.
My parents with a paid off house and 0 debt, are able to live off both of their social security incomes combined.
→ More replies (1)3
5
2
→ More replies (1)1
u/moopie45 16h ago
Bro you're not one day from retirement and still invested in stocks especially the day before a preplanned tariff announcement.
1
10
u/Grouchy_System6535 1d ago
Me! Here’s the nasty bit, it was 2000 and it took 13 years to get to break even.
9
u/MissingAU 1d ago
but thats the point of DCA right, which you are buying during those downtime to lower your cost base.
8
2
u/more-issues 1d ago
this, today may not be a but the dip situation, it may not be better a year from now.
1
u/ax_graham 7h ago
Yeah but a year, two years, five years, 10 even is an incredible accumulation phase for those with a longer timeline.
Alternatively, a lesson in diversification for those who were too weighted in stocks and close to retirement.
6
u/jshen 1d ago
I'm old and have DCA'd through many recessions and came out ahead. The main question to ask yourself is when you will likely need the money. If it's in less than 10 years, I'd put it into t-bills. If it's more than 10, DCA away into a low cost index fund and don't think too much about it.
→ More replies (2)
11
u/fasterbrew 1d ago edited 1d ago
In 2008 I did nothing. Just kept to my regularly timed investments. Ended up doing well. Sucked seeing nearly 1/2 of my portfolio vanish but I was fairly new in my investing career. I think it went from around 60K to around 30-something K.
I sold prior to the covid drop. Once it was down over 30% I bought back in. Did very well. That was just purely emotional. Sold and bought the same investments.
I sold a large portion back in Feb when SP500 was around 6100. Bought back in a chunk this morning. Will continue to buy back in.
Yes, I am timing the market, and ya, I got lucky. But I just saw upcoming events that would more than likely negatively impact the market than positively impact it, so took an educated guess. And I don't need to time the bottom perfectly. Just even an extra 5% or 10% is a nice bump.
Edit - add a bit more detail. And to add I've been buying every paycheck for nearly 25 years. And this is through my tax-advantaged accounts so there is no tax hit.
→ More replies (6)4
3
u/GrahamGreed 1d ago
I put in my monthly payment today, but it's more because there is a financial year reset in the UK for the ISA investment vehicle, use it or lose it, so I dumped in.
3
u/stupid_smart_ape 1d ago
I lump summed during Covid and basically doubled my money in three years.
Sometimes the gains were so easy it made me disconnect a little from life
3
u/WestCoastValleyGirl 1d ago
I changed where I will be buying. Some money will continue to buy the funds I buy monthly, however I have lowered the amounts substantially per month. The same amount will be deducted from my checking account, it will be parked in a HYSA (or whatever it's currently paying) and it will be ready to buy any deals once this entire situation settles down. It may not be what the experts want, but this plan is what will make me feel more in control considering the market right now.
3
u/charliekunkel 23h ago
2008 i bailed after los8ng 30% and missed the ride back up. 2021 I increased my monthly contributions as it fell and am glad i did. So far this time around i added a bit more when the s&p was 10% down and plan on doing it again monday since we're close to 20 now. If we drop another 10%, Ills double my contributions. If we drop another 20%, I'll triple it. If we drop more than that, god help us all, but I'll go all in. I'm 52 and want to retire in 10-15 years. Was on track to retire in 5 before this shit stain of a president F'd everyone in the A, but hopefully if I stick to my guns, i can still do it in 10-15...
3
3
u/Competitive_Pop_3286 4h ago
I graduated and went into the labor market in 07. I did regular 401k deposits all the way down for the ‘08 mess. Basically all of my savings were at a discount by the time the economy dug its way out.
For Covid I was fully invested. I never sold and never changed my 401k inflows.
When the orange douche started talking tariffs I liquidated my 401k to cash and gold. I just put 25% of my holdings into SPY and QQQ on Friday afternoon. I will do the same again with another 25% when spy gets to $450. If it ever gets to $400 I will go all in.
This is the way. In 5 years I will be further ahead than I would have if I didn’t do do Dca on the way down.
5
u/NedFlanders304 1d ago
I’ve been buying consistently for 13 years, never sold once. I kept buying through the 30% COVID crash, 25% 2022-2023 crash, 10% dip last year, and I’m buying now. I’m still way up overall.
4
u/littylikeatit 1d ago
You’ve been investing for a parabolic 13 years haha. Not a bad thing, but any drops you mentioned were quickly reversed
7
u/Travmuney 1d ago edited 1d ago
Dollar cost averaged in 09/greece and Italy bankruptcy scare/oil dipping scare/brexit/trumps first correction/covid/2022 inflation and now this. I’m nothing special but have a well above average net worth because of it. This isn’t different, shit will pass and in x amount of years you will look back and be glad about the wealth you created by not being a pussy
4
u/GomaN1717 1d ago
be glad about the wealth you created by not being a pussy
Should be the tagline of this sub, omg
2
u/Travmuney 1d ago
Yea man. These drops separate the men from the boys. Good luck to you moving forward!
4
u/Feisty-Hat2629 1d ago
Thinking about putting off my retirement for a year. Was planning to retire this time next year. Might wait to see what happens. Concerned that we get much more circus having elected a clown. I bought some MSFT today. Went 70% in cash in December and have been buying during this down time. Wish I trusted my gut and waited knowing what a shit show we were in for. Oh well.
2
u/StatisticalMan 1d ago edited 1d ago
Most of our investments are on auto pilot. It is double maxed 401(k) contributions for my wife and myself. It gets bought every paycheck market up down or sideways.
It is mentally hard to manually buy into a tanking market so make it as automatic as possible. In the 2008 crash there were entire months I didn't even look at the balance because I knew it was terrible. What would looking down? Freak me out? Make me consider selling at the bottom? Try to time the market by changing asset allocation to the "right one? Now pull up a chart and compared the market bottom in 2009 to today. In fact the entire 2008 to 2011 crash and recovery looks like a tiny blip.
The more you try to manage it and think about it the more likely you are going to make non-optimal decisions. Buy and hold every paycheck. Ignore it as best you can. Check on it in a decade.
The covid crash same thing but honestly that rebounded so quickly if you blinked you missed it. The 2008 GFC I felt that both in dollars and mentallly. 2000 dotcom crash was bad in percentiles but I had a token amount invested at the time. It is easy to be brave when you have $3k invested and contributing $10k a year.
2
u/MaxwellSmart07 1d ago edited 1d ago
MAAA. Market Angst. Anxiety. Apprehension.
This is eggzactly why when I retired years ago I promised myself not to rely on the market for wealth accumulation or income in retirement. Alternative investments/private equity. Stocks were 7% of my assets, now after wholesale selling last month it’s 1%.
2
u/jer72981m 1d ago
2020 the market plunged 30% in less than a month than recovered. I bought heavy. Made Aa ton of money. Even after this dip. Oh by the way that was a global pandemic.
2
u/SmileyChatts 1d ago
I started buying VTI in March 2020, I think my first purchase was at $238, I rode it all the way down to $180 before it started going up. I believe my highest purchase price was $302, and well… now we are headed back down to $238. My average price is $232.
If it gets to a point where I am averaging down, I will be considering a big lump sum.
2
u/Hav3_Y0u_M3t_T3d 1d ago
Really curious about investor confidence when a president just wiped out a year of market gains
2
u/redbluepurple50 1d ago edited 1d ago
DCA’d IVV, QQQ, VUG the second half of 2020 and all of 2022, worked out really well.
you just have to stay disciplined and don’t panic sell/buy. it was with money that was meant to be saved and invested. my timeline is 20 years, I didn’t need the cash at those points in time. I didn’t need to realize any gains/losses. still don’t.
2
u/HooperSuperDuper 1d ago
Bought every bear market/market plunge since 2000. 9/11, Iraq invasion, financial crisis, COVID, just to name a few. Financially independent before 50, still working but could retire any time.
1
2
u/atomicskiracer 1d ago
Base on my prior experience, here is what I’ve done now: I pulled 1/3rd of my investments in late December, and have that $$ sitting on the sidelines with it until I see a solid buying opportunity
2
u/Narezza 1d ago
I have a 401k, so I'm DCAing automatically, but I did have some gut reflex about COVID. Im in healthcare, so I wasn't worried about losing my job, so I doubled my 401k contribution in March, but pulled most of my non-401k money out of the market at the beginning of Feb. I missed the absolute bottom, but put it all back in at the beginning of April.
So, I increased my non-401k cash by almost 30%, and I kept my contribution doubled until around the middle of August.
It was all just luck.
2
u/Exciting_Occasion_29 1d ago
I sold about 60K worth of my portfolio (100% VOO) on Wednesday about an hour before market close at the time that was about 15% of my wife and I’s portfolio. I wanted to sell more but not being able to discuss with my wife before hand I was already violating how we handled finances (joint decisions). Also I subscribed to Warren Buffetts recommendations to by the S&P and forget about it. No matter how confident I might be I’m not informed enough for it not to be luck. We are in our young 30’s and confident in our timeline and will keep buying per our financial plan.
I dropped the news yesterday about what I did and understandably she was upset but glad I got lucky. We are just dropping it back in the market over the next couple weeks.
This was the first time in my life I have ever sold a stock in a retirement account.
2
u/mx07gt 1d ago
I vividly recall all my coworkers panicking on the covid crash, setting their contributions to 0% (ignoring even the 6% match) to "save as much money as possible", and some of them eventually cashed out 401k a few months later.
I bumped from 6% to 15% and everybody called me crazy. I've left it at 15% ever since and I came out way ahead since the covid crash was relatively short and the gains after that were pretty good.
This new crash nobody knows how low it'll go, or how long it'll last, but what I do know is if you're in it for the long haul, keep putting money in.
2
u/warm_sweater 1d ago
I stayed in through 2008, 2020, and now. Never pulled out money. Kept up my fortnightly 401k deposit. It was doing very well as of a few weeks ago, haven’t even logged in yet to see the damage from the last two days.
2
u/Seref15 1d ago edited 1d ago
In 2018 we had like a little minor panic late in the year and I guess that was my first bear market experience, kept DCAing through that. 2020, we all know what happened there, kept DCAing through that. 2022, DCA'd through that. All in all, very up.
Now, still DCAing. The self-inflicted nature of this drop does give this a real "this time its different" feel, I'll admit that. But I also think that if he tanks the market too hard he'll find support harder and harder to come by given that he has no future terms left so his usefulness to his team in congress is limited.
2
u/Best-Act4643 1d ago
During COVID, I invested in major travel companies, technology and some penny stocks and IPOs going into 2021 and 2022. Each investment was between $3k-$5.
Air Canada: made +84%, American Airlines: +35%, Apple: +29%, AMD: +30%, NVDA: +75%, GURU (at IPO): +209%, Hempfusion Wellness (now delisted): +78%, Namaste Technologies (now OTC): +24%, NCLH: +44%, Nikola Motors: +48%, TSLA: +53%, Wells Fargo: +18%, Village Farms: +18%, Workhorse Group (before the lawsuit): 28%.
Overall, I only doubled on one name but I kept reinvesting and compounding my wins. Original amount I had was about 20k.
It's possible. Stay the course, take small wins and celebrate the victories. Don't chase Fool's Gold.
2
u/LifeGainz7 23h ago
I had 50k in the market during Covid (DCA since 2020) and that’s still up around 45%. Put another 60k in since late last year and that’s now down around 5%.
Moral of the story- Wish I had lump summed more in during the Covid bear markets.
2
u/b1gb0n312 16h ago
I like to think of market crashes and corrections as time travel. You get to go back one year in time to buy index funds. When covid hit you got to time travel back to 2015 and buy.
2
u/irishtwinsons 16h ago
Lol you want to hear people’s ‘exciting’ stories about DCAing. That’s it. Just kept doing it. Didn’t log in and check much. It’s as boring as it gets. And steady gains over decades.
2
u/LaggingIndicator 13h ago
During COVID, I upped my contribution from 10% to 25% before backing off to 20% once we hit ATH again. Market wise it worked out awesome but the real gain was building that habit and getting used to living on 75% of my income. Then when I got pay raises, it’s been easy to keep adding to my contributions to the point where I now contribute nearly 40% of my income to retirement without really missing it.
2
u/robert9712000 12h ago
I have a friend who in 2008 to 2009 dump changed his 401k investment as high as he could. He has over a million in his 401k now. I wish I had done the same. The only sure thing I have learned is DCA and buy the fear and sell the greed.
2
u/Overstay3461 11h ago
It’s alarming how frequently I am seeing this crop up. If you don’t keep buying through the dip you are by definition not DCAing.
2
u/ALMessenger 10h ago edited 10h ago
I had (what seemed to me at the time to be) a lot of dry powder and bought S&P 500 at 800 back in 2009 - it was the most satisfying thing ever (I knew at the time it was an amazing opportunity having come off S&P at 1500).
That we climbed up to 6000 is kind of unbelievable - we were a very healthy economy in 2017 with S&P at 2500. If we go into an ugly recession I would think there could be a huge drop given the unusualness of the climb.
I then think back to the dip in late 2018 and then 2020 and how the market did not behave the way I would have expected and there were quick recoveries. This time feels different but we are really subject to the whims of Trump here so it wouldn’t shock me to see things bounce back on a reversal.
I am DCA’ing in slowly with a plan to ramp up the buy sizes based on the price to ensure that I participate, at least somewhat, if there is a bounce and to hopefully have dry powder remaining if the opportunity arrives to buy at good prices (S&P 500 at 5000 is not exciting to me)
2
u/jbfanwastaken 3h ago
I did during the recession that started in 2008. I kept investing every paycheck. In 2012 (I think), I was in a restaurant that had CNBC on, and was watching when the market finally regained everything it had lost. That meant my money from 2008 and earlier was made whole, and everything I invested in 2088-2010 had gained a lot.
3
u/drunkenfr 1d ago
My porfolio is up and down $200k , TBH, i have bearly sold any stock, just keep buying , it sounds cliche, and i don't miind looking at my porfoliop with even 500k loss, just keep buying whatever the stock i like
7
u/SouthLakeWA 1d ago
Not sure if the "bearly" misspelling was intentional, but it certainly works today!
2
u/drunkenfr 1d ago
lol it's a typo , but good idea, I'd leave it like that , BTW, i don't know stock, i just know time to buy when VIX is above 40, and buy good stock like AMZN, that's all i know; however, I do buy some small caps for fun such as AVD ( American Vanguard Corp) and LBRT which are all tanking big time lol
1
u/No2reddituser 1d ago
porfoliop
Sounds like a good name for a candy. And I've already trademarked it.
1
3
u/Displaced_in_Space 1d ago
I have a Luddite "I dont invest in anything I can't understand how they make their money (or at the level they do)" as a general rule.
Two weeks ago, I just felt the wave of tariff's moved from being a tool to akin to a temper tantrum and I just couldn't see the near/mid-term ultimate effect, especially once target nations started to band together. It's bad when Taiwan, Japan and China bond together on...well, anything.
Couple this with the fact that I'm 60, within two years of retiring and I felt like I needed to take a breather, so I moved about 70% of my 401k into an ultra safe/Bond/income fund in our plan.
I did that two weeks ago and overall the portfolio is down just a blip overall.
1
4
u/Nuclear_N 1d ago
The market reacted to what they think will happen. Nothing has really impacted the balance sheets or income statements….just forecasted.
Time will tell as it plays out. I have been around the world and American goods are not imported, but we have so much cheap crap in the US available to us.
I will continue to DCA and not change a thing as like most panics it passes.
Just as a pattern the 500 decreases every several years…we were due for a reset after two 25% years all propped up by government spending and government jobs. We really didn’t have growth only subsidized unsustainable growth.
2
u/Positive-War3957 1d ago
Trump is the 1st president since the S&P 500 was created in 1957 to inherit a bull market & turn in a loss of at least 5% at this point in his presidency.
3
u/suboptimus_maximus 1d ago
I've been DCAing since the early 2000s with no regrets, I barely even remember the Great Financial Crisis TBH although the COVID crash was the closest to making me panic because of how sharp it was and the amount of uncertainty about everything else besides the economy. All the other ups and down I can't even remember specifically, they just aren't worth remembering in the grand scheme of things.
I haven't really been freaked out by the recent drop yet, especially considering so much of the paper value was due to a big post-election bump on top of two extremely strong years of bull market. One nice thing about being in the market for decades is you're still way ahead and it feels like it would take a collapse of civilization level event to truly turn that around, but I will admit having a government that seems determined to destroy its own economy is a new experience and new challenge for me as an investor.
2
u/Silversurf978 1d ago
4 crashes here. Timed this one perfect 100% cash which has made up for the prior DCA attempts.
Remember early 1900s it took 20 years for DCA to recover. Covid V recovery has so much recency bias that is going to end up hurting a lot of people
2
1
u/FeRooster808 1d ago
I'm in my 40s. I have auto investments and I've largely left them as is from my early 20s to today. So through the recession, COVID, all of it. I have some auto investments going through today. And I made some other moves with individual stocks (Sold and bought something else).
1
u/Watergirl626 1d ago
If you contribute to a 401k out of every paycheck, you DCA. I've been contributing since 2003, so I went through 2009 and 2020.
In 2010, when I changed jobs, I had a small amount to roll over, but it was 7 years worth of contributing up to match and some employee stock.
I now have 16x that amount, and that is after the losses so far this year, including today.
Is that down from Jan? Sure. But I have a minimum of over 20 years before retirement age (but don't plan to wait until then).
1
u/Wild_Bunch_Founder 1d ago
I Bought SP500 at the devils number 666 during the 08-09 great financial crisis.
1
u/Amori_A_Splooge 1d ago
Pretty much tried to throw everything into the market between March and September the first year of covid. I had initiated a position with GE a year before and then tried to gobble as much as I could to dca down. GE went on to be a winner, but I also threw money into voo, qqqm.
1
u/naturalhairtingz 1d ago
So you winded up doing pretty well?
2
u/Amori_A_Splooge 1d ago
It's mostly all still in the market. I've trimmed my position a bit to take profits and sold off the spinoffs (sad for veronas sake,) but I still have a number of shares at +400%. Two days ago, it was about +530%. I don't need the money at the moment any more than I did two, three months so may as well just ride it out.
Who knows when the trust social post will come out claiming victory in the trade war. Plus the mental stress of trying to time the market isn't worth it, and you'll likely miss it. It's usually not a slow burn, most of the time the market will jump significantly over a few days and missing those few days will have significant impact on your long-term portfolio growth.
1
1
u/allbutluk 1d ago
Dca a bit dueing covid
Dca a lot during 2022 cause i earned a lot more then
Overall still up by 30-40%
1
u/curiouscirrus 1d ago
Went through dot com, 2008, and covid. Never pulled out and kept DCA’ing while employed. The last few days look horrible, but zoom out and it’s still an amazing ride up and to the right.
1
u/BudFox_LA 1d ago
I DCA’d starting back in 2007 and never changed my method, growth, index and blended funds and made a lot of money after the 2020 crash and ‘22 dip where 23/24 I was feeling like some kind of genius, and now here we are.
1
1
1
u/Far_Lifeguard_5027 1d ago
In November when the markets started to drop I sold a VOO position right before I entered the red. Now I'm dollar cost averaging into low volatility ETFs like USMV, SPMV. The DCA will last a for a few years. I think it was a wise decision, to DCA slowly into the dip, and DCA back out.
Other's will feel the opposite; that lump sum at any moment in time is the best option. but it depends on how long you have to recover. If you have 30 years it likely won't matter, but for those who just want to buy index funds and hold for ~5 years, a a market crash is a big deal and you likely won't recover buying at the top.
1
1
u/Hungry_Reading6475 1d ago edited 1d ago
I started my 401k in ‘99 with my first big girl job. So, I’ve DCA’d through the dot com/‘01 turmoil, ‘08 Great Recession, and Covid. I went from zero to (until about February this year) $550k. For the most part I didn’t really feel one way or the other about it. Sticking a set percentage of my pay every other week into a mutual fund really isn’t exciting. I flinched a few times checking my balance during the Great Recession but I never changed anything. I knew I was in it for the long haul and still had decades to go.
If you are just starting now (or even in the last few years) and have 25-35 years to go, don’t sweat it, truly. It’s only us older folks that need to be more cautious as we close in on retirement. I adjusted my allocation a few weeks ago, so I’m in a better spot than I would’ve been otherwise, I just hope things turn around sooner rather than later, for all our sakes.
1
1
u/billthe1only 1d ago
In 2022 I DCA’d the whole way down and at the end of 2024 I was up 195%. Then I sold absolutely everything in January, shorted the market in Febuary, cashed out today.
1
1
u/trumpsmoothscrotum 1d ago
I bought a lot of royal caribbean and carnival in late March and early April. I had a 100 shares of ccl for the onboard credit. So I guess I dollar cost averaged real hard. So it all in June 2020. And then bought back in November or so. And sold out all of it a few months ago. Thats when I decided I had cashed in huge, and would just buy total market and large etfs from then on. I got real lucky 2x.
1
u/weiners6996 22h ago
I dumped 10k into a brokerage during covid time and I'm still ahead. The harder it fell the more I put on
1
u/Luxferro 18h ago
I had an inheritance around COVID and opened a brokerage account at the end of November 2021, an ATH that took many years to recover. I bought in chunks from that ATH to the bottom and made out very nicely until the recent chaos.
Had I lump summed at that time I would be close to no gains soon. If VTI hits $240. But instead I averaged down all the way to $180. I should have bought more at that bottom, and now I might get that chance... And the only reason I have that chance, or any options, is that I didn't lump sum it and averaged down in a crashing economy instead, knowing it will recover eventually with time.
1
1
u/kicaboojooce 18h ago
The covid crash was fast, and recovery was fast.
This is 2008 where it's gonna bleed for a while before it caught it's footing.
The market is just reacting to news. We haven't seen Q1 results, much less Q2 which will be affected by tarriffs
Unemployment numbers in May/June will start to rise, inflation will rise with prices.
They've gutted the safety nets to catch people as well, food banks were defined a few weeks ago.
I haven't even started dcaing yet, we're not at the bottom and probably not real close.
1
1
u/bombalicious 17h ago
I did, I got BAC in 2009 ish. 3 years ago I sold half and it paid off my mortgage for me.
1
u/tallicafu1 16h ago
Bought in brokerage, IRA, and 401k through all of 2008-2009 and Covid. Was at nearly $1M before this week. Don’t see how I didn’t come out ahead. Keep buying unless you’re about to retire.
1
1
u/mhoepfin 15h ago
Got out near the top and I’ve been building positions on the way down. You’re never going to get it exactly right but a macro view of whether you should be risk on or risk off is a good way to manage.
1
1
u/7katzonthefarm 13h ago
I’ve got $250k in cash, have been out of mkt for years.,I’m now purchasing 5-10k each -4% drop. I expect it is a falling knife but can some comment on this DCA when there’s a significant drop beginning? And I’d rather be in and not time the mkt- especially with an upturn that could be within a yr since tariffs and interest rate cuts could occur at anytime.
1
u/Disciplined_Learner 13h ago
I started my career at a software company in the middle of the .com crash. I didn’t have any money, and just kept my head down and started DCAing into the 401k. Honestly should have contributed more in those first years, but I was young and didn’t understand the upside of the market at all. Every month I was losing money, but I kept at it, contributing up to my company match, figuring that I was doubling the contribution just from the match.
By 2008 I had 9 years of contributions, a mortgage and a few dollars in the bank. That’s when I really started my investing education, got a subscription to Morningstar, and started planning what I was going to do with dry powder. I kept DCAing into the 401k, and started my first brokerage account when the market was at 3 year lows.
Everything ended up fine, and my advice is to keep DCAing and rebalancing the 401k, and deploy dry powder when things are really on sale (they are not right now). Don’t have dry powder to work with? Now is a great time to cut back, build up some cash, and get ready to go.
476
u/the_niles_crane 1d ago
Anyone with a 401(k) plan is dollar cost averaging.