Monthly is arithmetically superior for most people, and we’ll tell you why.
When you invest a fixed amount every month, you buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high. Over time, this reduces your average cost basis relative to investing a single lump sum at an arbitrary moment. It also removes the psychological burden of trying to time the market — which nobody does reliably.
The exception: if you have a large sum sitting in cash earning nothing, the drag of waiting usually outweighs the averaging benefit. In that case, we’d typically recommend investing in tranches over a few months rather than dragging it out over years.
Altruist makes recurring transfers easy to set up and forget. If you have a regular paycheck and want to build wealth incrementally, that’s the default we recommend.
Dollar-cost averaging does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in declining markets. Investment strategies involve risk of loss.