Auto-invest is one of the most powerful features in Mustard. By automating your investments, you remove emotion from the equation and harness the power of dollar-cost averaging.
What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
Dollar-cost averaging means investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, regardless of market conditions. When prices are low, your fixed amount buys more shares. When prices are high, it buys fewer. Over time, this tends to result in a lower average cost per share.
Dollar-cost averaging removes the impossible task of "timing the market." By investing consistently, you benefit from both market dips and rallies — and you never have to guess when the right time is.
Setting Up Auto-Invest
On Mustard's Seed page, you can configure:
- Amount: How much to invest each time (e.g., $50, $100, $500)
- Frequency: How often to invest (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)
- Allocation: Which holdings to distribute funds across
Best Practices
Start Early
The earlier you start, the more time compound growth has to work. Even small amounts invested consistently in your 20s can grow substantially by retirement.
Be Consistent
The key to auto-invest is consistency. Resist the urge to pause during market downturns — those are actually when you're buying at lower prices.
Increase Over Time
As your income grows, increase your auto-invest amount. Even a $25 monthly increase each year can make a significant difference over decades.
Align with Your Pay Schedule
Set your auto-invest to trigger shortly after payday. This ensures the funds are available and makes investing feel automatic.
The Compound Effect
A $200 monthly auto-invest at a 7% average annual return grows to approximately:
- 5 years: $14,300
- 10 years: $34,500
- 20 years: $104,000
- 30 years: $243,000
Set up your auto-invest and then forget about it. The most successful investors are often those who check their portfolio less frequently. Let time and consistency do the heavy lifting.
Time and consistency are your greatest allies. Set it, stay faithful, and let it grow.