What if I had invested $100 a month in gold
Investing a fixed amount every month, whatever the price: that is dollar-cost averaging. Here is what this strategy would have done in gold, depending on the year you started.
Gold, a commodity tracked here through its futures contract, grew 9.7-fold in dollar terms between December 2003 and November 2026, an average of +10.4% a year. For a monthly investor, almost every purchase was made below today's price: 96% of the 275 monthly buys since December 2003.
Data: Yahoo Finance monthly closing prices, up to date as of (latest update November 4, 2026) MethodAuthor: Yann Avondo
If I had invested $100 every month in gold since January 2016, today I would have $30,438
Over the same period
Worst moment: −17.8% between January 2026 and October 2026. To get this result, you had to hold on without selling.
Gold at a glance
Gold is the classic safe haven: it pays no dividend or interest, but tends to rise when confidence in currencies and markets falls. The price used here is the front-month futures contract per ounce, in dollars.
The worst drop from a peak reached 42.0% in dollar terms (August 2011 to December 2015), erased by July 2020. Over the same period, the MSCI World (price index) returned +7.0% a year in dollar terms: gold did better. Calendar year after calendar year, 16 of 22 ended higher; the best, 2025, returned +63.4%, the worst, 2013, cost 25.3%.
$100 a month in gold, by start year
One contribution at the start of each month since January of the given year, valued at the latest price. Click a year for the full story.
| Start | Invested | Worth today | Multiple | Annual IRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,300 | $2,487 | ×1.08 | +8.0% | |
| $3,500 | $4,567 | ×1.3 | +18.6% | |
| $4,700 | $7,096 | ×1.51 | +21.4% | |
| $5,900 | $9,793 | ×1.66 | +20.7% | |
| $7,100 | $12,495 | ×1.76 | +19.0% | |
| $8,300 | $15,293 | ×1.84 | +17.4% | |
| $9,500 | $18,808 | ×1.98 | +16.8% | |
| $10,700 | $22,636 | ×2.12 | +16.2% | |
| $11,900 | $26,525 | ×2.23 | +15.5% | |
| $13,100 | $30,438 | ×2.32 | +14.7% | |
| $14,300 | $34,553 | ×2.42 | +13.9% | |
| $15,500 | $38,439 | ×2.48 | +13.2% | |
| $16,700 | $41,845 | ×2.51 | +12.3% | |
| $17,900 | $44,786 | ×2.5 | +11.4% | |
| $19,100 | $47,916 | ×2.51 | +10.7% | |
| $20,300 | $51,967 | ×2.56 | +10.2% | |
| $21,500 | $57,064 | ×2.65 | +10.0% | |
| $22,700 | $62,676 | ×2.76 | +9.8% | |
| $23,900 | $69,789 | ×2.92 | +9.8% | |
| $25,100 | $77,937 | ×3.11 | +9.8% | |
| $26,300 | $88,898 | ×3.38 | +10.0% | |
| $27,500 | $100,802 | ×3.67 | +10.1% |
Lump sum or DCA in gold?
Since January 2016, investing in gold all at once (lump sum) multiplied the stake by ×3.81, +13.0% a year. Investing every month (DCA) multiplied the total contributions by ×2.32, an annual return (IRR) of +14.7%.
Here DCA did better: spreading the purchases avoided putting all the money in at the wrong time.
Frequently asked questions
How much would I have if I had invested $100 a month in gold for 10 years?
Investing $100 every month since January 2016, $13,100 in total, would be worth about $30,438 today: an annual return (IRR) of +14.7% (price only, in the displayed currency).
What if I had started investing $100 a month in gold in 2015?
Since January 2015, $14,300 invested in total would be worth about $34,553 today (IRR of +13.9% a year).
What if I had started investing $100 a month in gold in 2020?
Since January 2020, $8,300 invested in total would be worth about $15,293 today (IRR of +17.4% a year).
Is investing monthly better than investing all at once?
Historically, investing a lump sum right away returns more in most cases, because markets rise more often than they fall. But monthly investing smooths the purchase price, protects against the worst timing and matches how people actually save: from their paycheck, month after month.
How is the annual return calculated?
With spread-out contributions, the multiple of the amount invested does not tell the whole story: the last dollars had only a few months to grow. The IRR (internal rate of return) is the average annual return that, applied to each contribution from its date, produces the final value.
Compare with
Before you have regrets
What this calculation does not tell you.
Hindsight bias
Picking Nvidia or Bitcoin today means picking known winners. Back then, nothing set them apart from hundreds of assets that went nowhere or vanished.
Holding on was the real test
The result assumes you never sold, including through the drawdowns shown above. Very few investors actually do.
The broad market, no bet required
The MSCI World never makes headlines, but it does not require guessing the winner. It is the fairest yardstick for any pick.
Method: past performance, computed from split-adjusted monthly closing prices (intra-month lows are smoothed out). Converted at each month’s exchange rate; no fees, no taxes. The MSCI World benchmark is the price index, excluding dividends. Sources: Yahoo Finance (prices, exchange rates, US Treasury bills), Eurostat (inflation), published regulated rates (Livret A). Not investment advice. NokxiHub.