The objective of this technique – "dollar-cost averaging" – is to buy more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high, so that the overall cost is lower than if a fixed number of shares are purchased at set intervals.
Experience has shown that investors should generally not attempt to time the stock market unless they're professional money managers. "It's not just knowing when to get out," says Jeremy J. Siegel, Professor of Finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, "It's knowing when to get back in. That's why staying the market is usually the best bet for the small investor."Buy-and-Hold: Consistency Outperforms Occasional Brilliance
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