My rules after three years of ETF dollar-cost averaging

I’ve been investing only through monthly dollar-cost averaging since 2021. This isn’t a post to brag about returns—I’m writing it because I thought summarizing the principles I’ve kept after going through trial and error might help those who waver like I did.

The biggest lesson I learned is that “not looking often is the answer.” There was a time when I opened the app several times a day to check the red numbers, and that was when my returns were the worst and my stress was the highest.

These are the rules I follow:

• Fix the buy date to the day after payday, and keep the amount fixed
• Keep the number of holdings to three or fewer (if I add more, I can’t manage them)
• In the -10% range, actually increase the amount
• Don’t switch holdings based on the news
• Check rebalancing only once per quarter

I also lost money at first because I didn’t understand taxes and fees. Overseas ETFs in particular involve currency exchange fees and capital gains tax calculations that are more complicated than you’d think, so when you’re starting out, I strongly recommend comparing brokerage promotions and fee structures at least once.

The conclusion is nothing special. The hardest part is setting rules and not wavering from them. I’m curious how everyone is holding up in a market like this these days.