You have a sum of money and a decision that feels much larger than it is. Put it all in the market on Monday, or split it into monthly instalments and feed it in gradually so a bad first week does not haunt you. The usual answer is that investing at once wins on average because markets rise more often than they fall, which is true but not very useful, because it does not tell you what the choice actually costs or under what conditions the other option comes out ahead. This page answers both. The cost is the return you give up while money waits its turn, offset by the interest that money earns in the meantime, and it turns out to have an exact and rather elegant break-even. The two approaches finish level when the market returns precisely what your savings account pays over the drip window, because at that point it genuinely does not matter where the money sat. That collapses the whole decision into a single question you can actually reason about. The other half of the answer is what the drip buys you. It is not nothing: in a serious fall the difference runs to double digits as a percentage of the amount. And there is an important case where none of this applies at all, which is investing your income as it arrives, where there is no lump sum sitting anywhere and therefore no choice to make.
| If the market returns | Invest at once | Drip feed | Difference | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -40.00% | $36,000.00 | $46,528.58 | $10,528.58 | Drip feed |
| -30.00% | $42,000.00 | $50,287.50 | $8,287.50 | Drip feed |
| -20.00% | $48,000.00 | $53,873.12 | $5,873.12 | Drip feed |
| -10.00% | $54,000.00 | $57,317.42 | $3,317.42 | Drip feed |
| 0.00% | $60,000.00 | $60,643.54 | $643.54 | Drip feed |
| 5.00% | $63,000.00 | $62,267.89 | $732.11 | Invest at once |
| 7.00% | $64,200.00 | $62,910.99 | $1,289.01 | Invest at once |
| 10.00% | $66,000.00 | $63,868.87 | $2,131.13 | Invest at once |
| 20.00% | $72,000.00 | $67,006.88 | $4,993.12 | Invest at once |
| 30.00% | $78,000.00 | $70,068.25 | $7,931.75 | Invest at once |
The switch happens at the cash rate, not at zero. Money waiting its turn is earning something, and that something is exactly what tips the balance.
| Spread over | Invest at once | Drip feed | Cost of the drip | Share of the amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | $61,023.51 | $60,798.26 | $225.25 | 0.38% |
| 6 months | $62,064.48 | $61,493.87 | $570.61 | 0.95% |
| 12 months | $64,200.00 | $62,910.99 | $1,289.01 | 2.15% |
| 18 months | $66,409.00 | $64,363.42 | $2,045.58 | 3.41% |
| 24 months | $68,694.00 | $65,852.08 | $2,841.92 | 4.74% |
| 36 months | $73,502.58 | $68,942.00 | $4,560.58 | 7.60% |
The cost rises roughly in proportion to the length. The reassurance does not, which is the argument for keeping any drip short.
| If the market falls | Invest at once | Drip feed | Drip ahead by | Share of the amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.00% | $54,000.00 | $57,317.42 | $3,317.42 | 5.53% |
| 20.00% | $48,000.00 | $53,873.12 | $5,873.12 | 9.79% |
| 30.00% | $42,000.00 | $50,287.50 | $8,287.50 | 13.81% |
| 40.00% | $36,000.00 | $46,528.58 | $10,528.58 | 17.55% |
| 50.00% | $30,000.00 | $42,550.00 | $12,550.00 | 20.92% |
Set the expected cost against this. Paying 2.15% for a materially better worst case is a defensible trade if it is what gets you invested.
This is the part worth taking away, and it is exact arithmetic rather than an approximation.
If the market returns precisely what your savings account pays over the drip window, then every dollar earns the same rate whether it is invested or waiting. The two approaches must finish identical, because there is nothing to distinguish them.
So the question is not the vague "will markets go up?" It is the much sharper "will the market beat 2.35% over the next 12 months?" Above that the lump sum wins, below it the drip does.
Invest at once: $60,000.00 compounds at 7.00% for the year, finishing at $64,200.00.
Drip feed: $5,000.00 a month, with money not yet invested earning 2.35%. That finishes at $62,910.99.
The cost: $1,289.01, or 2.15% of the amount. Carried forward to a 10 year holding period the gap grows to $2,369.79, because the shortfall compounds along with everything else.
Roughly speaking the cost is half the gap between the two rates, since a dollar spends about half the window waiting its turn.
The case for drip feeding is usually put as buying more units when prices are low, which sounds like a mechanism for producing returns. It is not.
You do buy more units at lower prices, but that is a description of what happens rather than a reason to expect a better outcome. It only helps if prices are lower during the window than at the start, which is another way of saying it helps if the market goes down.
The honest version is narrower and still worth something: the drip reduces the consequence of being unlucky with your timing, and it costs you a known amount to do so.
The protection is real and it scales with the size of the fall.
A 20.00% fall over the window leaves the drip $5,873.12 ahead. A 30.00% fall leaves it $8,287.50 ahead, which is 13.81% of the amount. A 50.00% fall leaves it $12,550.00 ahead.
Against an expected cost of $1,289.01, that is not an unreasonable trade for someone who genuinely does not know how they would react to watching a large sum fall in its first month. Our investment time horizon risk calculator puts numbers on how likely such a year is.
If you decide to spread it, the length matters more than the decision itself.
Three months costs $225.25. Twelve months costs $1,289.01. Thirty-six months costs $4,560.58, which is 7.60% of the amount for the same eventual destination.
The cost climbs steadily with the length while the reassurance mostly comes from the first few tranches. A drip measured in months is a sensible compromise. One measured in years is closer to a market timing position that has not been stated as one.
Investing your income as it arrives is not dollar cost averaging in the sense compared here, and treating it as such causes a lot of unnecessary worry.
Your KiwiSaver contributions, or a monthly direct debit from your salary, involve no lump sum sitting in cash. The money does not exist until payday, so there is no alternative to weigh the approach against. You are investing as soon as you are able, which is the only option available.
Our dollar-cost averaging calculator projects that regular-contribution case, where the useful question is how the balance builds rather than which approach wins.
For most people the real choice is not between two good options. It is between investing and continuing to do nothing.
Seen that way, a 2.15% expected cost that actually gets the money invested is cheap. Our cash drag calculator shows what sitting in cash indefinitely costs by comparison, and it is a much larger number than anything on this page.
Pick the approach you will actually follow through on, keep the window short if you spread it, and make sure the waiting money is earning interest rather than sitting in a transaction account.
If you've found a bug, or would like to contact us, or learn more about James Graham and Calculate.co.nz.
Calculate.co.nz is partnered with Interest.co.nz for New Zealand's highest quality calculators and financial analysis.
Calculate.co.nz is the sister site of CalculatorHub.com, the world's largest calculator website by tool count.
All calculators and tools are provided for educational and indicative purposes only and do not constitute financial advice.
Calculate.co.nz is proudly part of the Realtor.co.nz group, New Zealand's leading property transaction literacy platform, helping Kiwis understand the home buying and selling process from start to finish. Whether you're a first home buyer navigating your first property purchase, an investor evaluating your next acquisition, or a homeowner planning to sell, Realtor.co.nz provides clear, independent, and trustworthy guidance on every step of the New Zealand property transaction journey.
Calculate.co.nz is also partnered with Health Based Building and Premium Homes to promote informed choices that lead to better long-term outcomes for Kiwi households.
Calculate.co.nz is hosted in Auckland by SiteHost New Zealand.
All content on this website, including calculators, tools, source code, and design, is protected under the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). No part of this site may be reproduced, copied, distributed, stored, or used in any form without prior written permission from the owner.
About & trust: Why Calculate is NZ's most comprehensive · By the Numbers · How we compare · Editorial standards · How we keep data current · NZ finance glossary · Research & data · Financial literacy NZ · About · Privacy policy · Terms of use
Reviewed and maintained. Last reviewed 2026-08-07 and checked on a twice-monthly cycle against IRD, RBNZ and Stats NZ. How we keep data current.
© 2026 Calculate.co.nz. All rights reserved. Building free NZ calculators since 2011.