Guides

Plain-language explanations of the ideas behind the simulator: what dollar-cost averaging is, how it compares with investing a lump sum, what dividend reinvestment does over time, and how to read a backtest without fooling yourself.

• What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)? Pros, Cons, and Who It Suits

  A clear explanation of dollar-cost averaging: how investing a fixed amount on a schedule works, why it lowers your average cost per share, its real advantages and drawbacks, and who it tends to suit.

• DCA vs Lump-Sum Investing: What Historical Data Does and Doesn't Show

  Should you invest a windfall all at once or spread it out over time? What historical comparisons of lump-sum investing and dollar-cost averaging tend to show, why, and the important things they cannot tell you.

• How to Use the InvestGraph Simulator and Interpret the Results

  A step-by-step guide to the InvestGraph DCA simulator: what each input does, what every result metric means, how to read the animated chart, how to share and export, and how to avoid misreading the numbers.

• How Dividend Reinvestment Affects Long-Term Returns

  What happens when you reinvest dividends instead of taking them as cash, why the difference compounds over time, what price and total return mean, and the taxes and trade-offs to keep in mind.

• Common Mistakes When Backtesting an Investment Plan

  The most common ways historical backtests mislead: survivorship bias, ignoring fees and taxes, cherry-picked dates, currency effects, look-ahead bias, and over-trusting a single path. How to avoid each one.