Invest every month, without thinking about it
A simple method, among the most studied: every month, whatever happens, buy an ETF that tracks a major index. No stocks to pick, no right moment to wait for.
The method in three ideas
An ETF: a whole market in one purchase
An ETF (or tracker) replicates an index. Buying an MSCI World ETF means owning around 1,400 companies from 23 countries at once. Its fees are low: 0.1 to 0.4% a year.
The same amount, every month
Investing a fixed amount at regular intervals (“dollar cost averaging”, or DCA) spares you from looking for the right moment: you buy more units when prices fall, fewer when they rise.
Time, your main ally
Over a few months, an index can lose 30% or more. Over 15 or 20 years, past falls have been erased, sometimes after a long wait: the Nasdaq 100 took almost 15 years to regain its 2000 peak.
What if you had started earlier?
Choose an index, a starting amount, a monthly contribution and a period: the simulator replays the real history, month by month, with dividends reinvested and in euros.
- Period
- Oct 2016 → Sep 2026
- 120 months of contributions
- Annualised return
- +13.6% a year
- Average return on the money invested, each amount from its own date
- Worst moment for you
- −0.6%
- In March 2020, compared with the total invested by then
- Largest fall of the index
- −33.5%
- From the previous peak to March 2020: investing through these falls is part of the method
MSCI World index with dividends reinvested, converted into euros at the day’s rate. Before fees and taxes. Past performance is no guide to future performance.
In practice
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01
Open a PEA
With a low-cost online broker. Without a PEA, a life insurance contract or a securities account also work.
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02
Choose an eligible ETF
PEA-eligible ETFs track the MSCI World, the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100. Compare their annual fees (TER) and assets; prefer an “accumulating” ETF, which reinvests dividends.
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03
Schedule a monthly contribution
An automatic transfer to the account, then a scheduled purchase if your broker offers one, or a purchase on a fixed date otherwise.
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04
Let time do its work
Don’t check every day, don’t sell in a panic. Reviewing once or twice a year is enough.
Which account to open, and where? See the First steps step.
What the simulator doesn’t tell you
- Past performance is no guide to future performance.
- ETF fees (0.1 to 0.4% a year) and brokerage fees are not deducted.
- Taxes are not taken into account: they depend on the account used (see step 1).
- Indices are tracked in dollars and converted into euros at the day’s rate: dollar moves count, as they do for a PEA-eligible ETF tracking the same index.
- Each contribution is invested at the month’s first close, without rounding to whole units.
Next step: Going further
Weigh the risks of a single stock, set your guardrails, then write your investor charter.