Numeros
Categories Financial Calculators Health Calculators Math Calculators Date & Time Construction Engineering Physics Business Education Lifestyle Converters Generators
About

Dollar Cost Averaging Calculator

By

Enter up to five purchases (amount invested and price per share) to find your average cost per share.

Dollar Cost Averaging Calculator

Live
Average cost per share
$49.67
Total invested
$1,500.00
Total shares
30.2020

The formula

Total shares = Sum of (Amount invested / Price per share) for each purchase Average cost per share = Total invested / Total shares
Example

Three $500 purchases at $50, $45, and $55/share: total invested = $1,500, total shares ≈ 30.202, average cost ≈ $49.67/share - lower than the simple average of the three prices ($50).

Step-by-step guide

  1. Enter each purchase's dollar amount and the price per share at that time.
  2. Read your average cost per share, total invested, and total shares accumulated.

Why the average cost is usually lower than the simple average of prices

Investing a fixed dollar amount each time (rather than a fixed number of shares) means you automatically buy more shares when the price is low and fewer when the price is high - this is the core mechanic of dollar cost averaging. Because more shares get purchased at the lower prices, the dollar-weighted average cost per share ends up below the simple average of the prices themselves. This is a real mathematical effect of the strategy, not a guarantee of better returns - if prices trend consistently upward without dips, dollar cost averaging doesn't outperform investing the full amount upfront.

Common mistakes

Averaging the share prices directly instead of weighting by how many shares each purchase actually bought - this overstates the true average cost when purchase amounts vary.
Treating dollar cost averaging as a guarantee against loss - it reduces the impact of poor timing on a single purchase, but doesn't protect against a sustained decline in the underlying investment's value.

Frequently asked questions

Is dollar cost averaging better than investing a lump sum?

There's no universal answer - lump-sum investing has historically outperformed dollar cost averaging more often than not, since markets trend upward over long periods, but DCA can reduce the emotional and timing risk of investing everything right before a downturn. It's a personal risk-tolerance decision, not a strictly mathematical one.

Does this work for cryptocurrency or any asset?

Yes - the math is identical regardless of the asset. Just enter the amount invested and the price per unit at each purchase.

How many purchases can I enter?

This calculator handles up to five purchases at once - for a longer history, calculate in batches and combine the totals, or track your running average as you go.

Related calculators

See the full list of Financial calculators, or try: