Would you choose go for 12x $500 or 6x $1k for DCA into a robo-advisor?

Hi Anon,

Great to hear that you received a bonus despite a trying 2020.

If this is going to be your first time investing, it would be prudent to first look at your short term financial planning before investing any amounts at all (i.e. 6 months emergency funds, basic insurances)

Once you've dealt with the planning, there shouldn't be any issues investing the full $6,000 at one go. There's plenty of evidence to show that lump sum investing yields better returns over the long run as compared to DCA.

Sometimes, it's more an emotional decision when it comes to parting with this sum of money. "Will the market drop after I invest?" It seems DCA is a good way to mitigate any short term volatility in market movements.

I'd suggest to go with a lump sum investment of $6,000 if you are young (25-30) and have already set aside your rainy day funds. If you are someone with a little more liabilities and commitments, perhaps $1,000 over 6 months may be better.

$500 over 12 months is really unecessary if you have already planned to invest all of the $6,000 in the first place. You really need to spend time in the market rather than miss out on a good 6 or 11 months of market returns.

Tbh, I won't just be fixated on being so stringent with my DCA but just need to be consistent over the long run. Once you allocate this bonus, what do you do after this? Do you let it sit idle? Or continue to be consistent. But in any case, 12x $500 will be better if you want to stage your investments