Goodbye August! And goodbye Winter!

All and all a pretty uneventful month i’d say. No crazy market moves, no crazy adventures just some good old fashion life with some sprinkled DCA!

Throughout August I’ve been wrestling with the idea of whether to deploy my cash reserves – gained from my tax return – or leave it untouched for a potential future downturn.

I’ve never been a fan or lump sum investing, purely for the reason that I am convinced as soon as that large chunk of money gets deployed the market will retract 10 to 20%. An irrational thought hey! I know i’m not the only one but… right?

Studies have proven that the greatest returns come from those who partake in lump sum investing however, I myself am unable to deal with the mental solitude it requires. I have adopted DCAing into my lifestyle, to me it’s therapeutic, almost a robotic process that has become engrained in my week-to-week activities.

Invested: $3,981.24

Core Portfolio Growth: $4,850.32

As you can see, this is a considerable difference than over the past four months where portfolio growth has been well excess of $10,000. These “slow” months are good and if i’ve honest, we need more of them. Now don’t get me wrong, I love seeing my portfolio fly! However, I understand that this is not realistic, nor should it be expected. These months are what I call foundation building months. I bet most of you began not checking your portfolios as much as you have been over this recent tear. This is a good thing!!! We aren’t meant to be watching every penny every day – set and forget and focus on the world around you.

Without these formative months I do worry for the average investor, I worry for the day when the markets contract and do so for potentially months, if not years. No one wants that. But we should be prepared. If all we expect each month is unrealistic gains with no downside then we need a reset!