What if · since 2018 · Gold
What if I invested $100 every month in Gold since 2018?
How much would $100 monthly into Gold since 2018 be worth? Blind DCA vs adaptive contributions.
How much would this DCA have been worth?
If you invested $100/month on a monthly budget (simulated as a weekly-equivalent cash rate) into Gold from 2018-01-05 through 2026-09-04, your total contributions would have been about $10,455 and a blind dollar-cost averaging portfolio would be worth about $24,129 (+130.8%) on this historical path — before fees, taxes, or changing the habit mid-stream.
2018-01-05 → 2026-09-04
$100/month · Monthly DCA · Gold
What does the chart show?
The chart marks portfolio value over time for blind DCA, SteadyGrow sizing, and (when shown) a same-capital lump sum. Contributed cash rises in steps; ending value is mark-to-market on the last date. Blind DCA ends about $1,680 ahead of SteadyGrow on this window — adaptive sizing is not a guarantee.
How did we calculate this?
- Window: real market history from our published backtest bundle, typically from 2015 through the latest Friday in the series — we do not invent older decades.
- Contribution calendar: the engine runs on a weekly Friday grid. A “monthly” habit is converted to an equivalent weekly cash rate ((amount × 12) / 52) so the same engine can compare habits.
- Purchase timing: each period’s contribution is applied on that week’s bar in the series (close-based weekly path), not an intraday open fill.
- Assets: S&P 500, Bitcoin, and other series we publish — USD only. No FX conversion.
- Shares: fractional units are assumed. No brokerage commissions, bid–ask, or slippage are modeled.
- Dividends / income: returns follow the wealth path in the backtest bundle for that asset (not a fixed 7–10% toy rate).
- Blind DCA vs SteadyGrow: blind buys the same cash every period; SteadyGrow keeps the same long-run budget but sizes weeks from the model’s multipliers.
- Lump sum (when shown): the same total cash as the DCA habit, invested on day one of the window, then marked to the same path.
Frequently asked questions
- How much would $100/month DCA into Gold have been worth?
- On this page’s window (2018-01-05 → 2026-09-04), blind DCA contributed about $10,455 and ended near $24,129. Change the calculator or a related what-if story for other amounts and start years.
- Is this a forecast or a historical backtest?
- Historical only. We replay published prices from 2015 onward. Past paths do not predict future returns.
- Do you include dividends, fees, and taxes?
- We use the asset’s backtest wealth path (USD) and assume fractional shares with no brokerage fees. Taxes and account wrappers are not modeled — treat the result as a pre-tax illustration.
- How do monthly contributions work in a weekly engine?
- A monthly dollar amount is converted to a weekly-equivalent cash rate so it can run on the same Friday grid as our other calculators. It is not twelve identical calendar-month fills.
- What is the difference between blind DCA and SteadyGrow?
- Blind DCA deploys the same cash every period. SteadyGrow keeps a similar long-term contribution budget but sizes individual weeks using the model — more when valuation/regime looks cheaper, less when stretched.
- Can I compare DCA to investing everything at once?
- Yes — open the DCA vs lump sum calculator. It uses the same total cash: one lump on day one versus spreading buys across the window.
- Where can I learn the basics before I run a calculator?
- Start with our DCA guides — what DCA is, vs lump sum, weekly vs monthly, and crash behavior — then jump back into a historical calculator.
What if your contribution wasn't always the same?
Blind DCA deploys $100/month every period. SteadyGrow keeps the same long-term habit but sizes weeks from valuation and regime — more when markets are cheap, less when they're stretched.