← Research notes

Learn · Research notes

Why S&P 500 DCA is the honest baseline

After timing and tactical forks failed our bar, the evidence-backed habit is simple: the same contribution into a broad market on a schedule. How to use SteadyGrow’s S&P 500 DCA tools.

Direct answer

Our research repeatedly lost to or failed to beat S&P 500 DCA on time-weighted return. The honest baseline for a monthly saver is a plain S&P 500 (or world) DCA calculator — not a paid timing product.

What “honest baseline” means

A baseline is what you compare every clever idea against:

  • Same dollars in
  • Same calendar
  • Published prices
  • No invent-cash
  • TWR and drawdown, not vanity wealth ratios

In our forks, 100% S&P 500 DCA kept winning that comparison for equity-heavy books — or tactical ideas failed rolling windows so badly they were not shippable.

Tools that match the baseline

What we are not claiming

We are not claiming S&P 500 DCA is optimal for every person, currency, or tax wrapper. We are claiming it is the right comparison line after we spent a lot of research trying to beat it with timing and sleeves — and mostly failed.

Frequently asked questions

Why S&P 500 DCA is the honest baseline?
Our research repeatedly lost to or failed to beat S&P 500 DCA on time-weighted return. The honest baseline for a monthly saver is a plain S&P 500 (or world) DCA calculator — not a paid timing product.
Do you sell a trading strategy based on this research?
No. These pages document what we tested and why we do not sell a paid allocator. Use the free S&P 500 DCA calculators instead.

Run the numbers on real history

Guides are cheap. Seeing a monthly habit on published S&P 500 prices is the point.