Financial Concepts（4）: Dollar Cost Averaging

从一个权威的网上摘下来的系列文章，请注意加粗的文字和有标记的地方。

If you ask any professional investor what the hardest investment task is, he or she will likely tell you that it is picking bottoms and tops in the market.

如果你问一个职业投资者，你认为在投资过程中什么最难。他八成会说，大概是“抄底摸顶”吧。

常常听人说，抄底抄到半山腰，就是这个意思，半山腰抄进去，殊不知，“998”才是大底（上证综指）。

Trying to time the market is a very tricky strategy. Buying at the absolute low and selling at the peak is nearly impossible in practice.

尝试对市场进行择时操作，是一项tricky的策略。在实践中，在绝对的低位买，在绝对的高点卖，是一件几乎不可能完成的事。

adj.狡猾的; 微妙的; （形势、工作等） 复杂的; 机警的;

可在这里可意译为“这真是一个棘手的问题”

This is why so many professionals preach about dollar cost averaging (DCA). 平均成本法（定投）。

这也是如此多的专业投资者宣扬“平均成本法”的原因。

vt.宣扬; 说教; 布道，讲道; 讲（道）;

Although the term might imply a complex concept, DCA is actually a fairly simple and extremely useful technique.

尽管这个术语意味着一些复杂的概念，但是定投确实是一种相对简单但极为有效的技术手段。

Dollar cost averaging is the process of buying, regardless of the share price, a fixed dollar amount of a particular investment on a regular schedule.

定投是，不管标的价格如何，定期投入固定金额去购买。

More shares are purchased when prices are low, and fewer shares are purchased when prices are high.

因此，价格低的时候，买到的份额就多，而价格高的时候，买到的份额就少。

The cost per share over time eventually averages out.

over time，久而久之。

久而久之，每份额的平均成本也就逐渐被平均了。

This reduces the risk of investing a large amount in a single investment at the wrong time.

 这就减少了在错误的时间，全仓去押宝一样东西所带来的巨大风险！

Let's analyze this with an example. Suppose you recently got a bonus for your previously unrecognized excellence (just imagine!), and now you have $10,000 to invest.

举个例子。假设你最近得到了一项补贴。你现在有10000美元可以投资。

Instead of investing the lump sum into a mutual fund or stock, with DCA, you'd spread the investment out over several months.

你选择了投资股票或者基金。你没有一次性地投入全部金额，而采用了定投的方式。

Investing $2,000 a month for the next five months, "averages" the price over five months.

在接下来的5个月中，每月投资2000美元，定投平均了5个月的成本。

So one month you might buy high, and the next month you might buy more shares because the price is lower, and so on.

因此，有些月份你买到的份额多，有些时候买到的份额少一些。

This plan is also applicable to the investor who doesn't have that big lump sum at the start, but can invest small amounts regularly.

定投同样适合那些一开始并没有一堆钱可以给你投资，而是定期能积累一点小钱可以投资的人。

This way you can contribute as little as $25-50 a month to an investment like an index fund.

如果采用定投的话，你可以大概每月向指数型基金投资25-50美元。

Keep in mind that dollar cost averaging doesn't prevent a loss in a steadily declining market, but it is quite effective in taking advantage of growth over the long term.

一定要记得！！！在稳跌的市场中（嘲讽一下我们大A股），定投并不能避免损失，但是长期来看，只要经济有增长，定投就还是非常有效的。