Isn’t this trying to time the market?

I love this response which means someone is actually reading. Did you see my question at the end? I agree with the point you're making and I wanted to spark that discussion 😜

Interesting. A lot of people position DCA as some kind of advanced financial engineering… But certainly having systematic investment versus having nothing at all would be an improvement

I think thats the main way I'm trying to position it. Since people will feel safer I think.

Isn't dollar cost averaging usually the opposite of trying to time the market? I can see how dca vs January 1 dump might position dca as timing the market ("I might get a better price later in the year"), is that what you mean?

Yes that's what he means.

I think of it as diversification for entry time. But still, keeping your funds out of the market for up to a year is a high price to pay for that diversification

Assuming money is just sitting in cash waiting to be invested in an (Roth) IRA? Isn't it more typical to invest as you get paid, incrementally, hence automatic DCA?

I think that might be more common but I personally do my IRA contribution once a year.

So for those who don't make yearly contributions (because of affordability or cash flow) but doing it incrementally, is there a point in doing it biweekly versus monthly? I understand that DCA isn't a a good planned strategy, but is it a good automated strategy?

Sure but then it's not technically DCA. It's contribute as soon as you have funds. It's also technically difficult as you need to ensure that you're not going over the limit. If you're in backdoor roth territory you have an additional problem with automating the rollover. If you choose to automate contributions to the IRA and then rollover once a year, that ira will have earnings which will also complicate the rollover

Yeah I contribute once a year bc of the above. Only want to do one conversion but for most people the point is JUST INVEST WHEN YOU HAVE THE MONEY

Essentially there are strategies for people who don't currently invest: INVEST! SMALL AMOUNTS ON A SCHEDULE! DO IT! Then there are people investing who want more advanced strategies to maximize the benefits. That's a whole different ball game. If someone never played football, you don't start by teaching them fake handoffs. You tell them to run and catch the ball.