The current state of the stock market can leave even the most fearless investor a little nervous. The uncertainty and volatility can be scary. Of all the different investment methods I use, there’s only one that I don’t worry about in such times: the one built on dollar cost averaging.

By automating that portfolio, I don’t have to think about it. I chose companies whose long term prospects looked appealing. As such, I don’t need to think about the day to day prices of the stock or worry about when to buy or sell. When the market takes a big hit, like it has recently, I sleep well knowing that my automated contributions are buying larger amounts of the stocks that I chose. Like anything else, when the price of something you want to buy goes down, that’s the time to load up on it. A downturn in the market is like all of your favorite stocks going on sale.

My overview of Dollar Cost Averaging is here.