Dollar cost averaging (DCA) in WLDN means investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, regardless of share price. This strategy reduces timing risk and builds wealth steadily through market ups and downs.
How This Calculator Works
Our DCA calculator simulates real market conditions using historical price data. It accounts for dividend reinvestment (DRIP), where each dividend payment automatically purchases additional shares. You can adjust the investment amount, frequency, time period, and compare against benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100.
Same amount invested each month — only the day of purchase changes. How much does intra-month timing actually matter?
Best Timing DCA
StrategyBuy on monthly low
Total Return+173.9%
Final Value$131.5K
Perfectly timed — impossible in practice
Your DCA
StrategyBuy on 1st of month
Total Return+152.1%
Final Value$121.0K
Consistent — no timing needed
Worst Timing DCA
StrategyBuy on monthly high
Total Return+132.0%
Final Value$111.4K
Worst possible — still beats not investing
Best vs Worst gap41.9 pp
Your timing vs best-21.8%
Your timing vs worst+20.2%
If You Keep Investing…
Based on this stock's historical CAGR of 15.7%/yr — put in vs. walk away with.
Your Plan
At $500/mo, this could grow into:
3 Years$22K~1.2x your moneyfrom $18K invested
5 Years$44K~1.5x your moneyfrom $30K invested
10 Years$135K~2.2x your moneyfrom $60K invested
20 Years$715K~6.0x your moneyfrom $120K invested
Compare Other Monthly Amounts
Same CAGR assumption. Use this to pressure-test different monthly commitments.
Monthly
3 Years~1.2x your money
5 Years~1.5x your money
10 Years~2.2x your money
20 Years~6.0x your money
$100/mo
$4K+$889 est. gain
$9K+$3K est. gain
$27K+$15K est. gain
$143K+$119K est. gain
$250/mo
$11K+$2K est. gain
$22K+$7K est. gain
$67K+$37K est. gain
$357K+$297K est. gain
$500/mo
$22K+$4K est. gain
$44K+$14K est. gain
$135K+$75K est. gain
$715K+$595K est. gain
$1,000/mo
$45K+$9K est. gain
$88K+$28K est. gain
$270K+$150K est. gain
$1.4M+$1.2M est. gain
* Projection assumes historical CAGR of 15.7% continues. Actual returns will vary.
Your DCA Results by Date
77 purchases
Date
Price
Invested
Portfolio Value
% Gain
Gain ($)
Jan 2, 2020
$31.99
$10,000
$10,000
+0.00%
$0
Feb 3, 2020
$33.74
$10,500
$11,047
+5.21%
$547
Mar 2, 2020
$31.00
$11,000
$10,650
-3.18%
$-350
Apr 2, 2020
$19.10
$11,500
$7,062
-38.59%
$-4,438
May 4, 2020
$23.22
$12,000
$9,085
-24.29%
$-2,915
Jun 2, 2020
$25.66
$12,500
$10,540
-15.68%
$-1,960
Jul 2, 2020
$24.69
$13,000
$10,641
-18.14%
$-2,359
Aug 3, 2020
$25.05
$13,500
$11,296
-16.32%
$-2,204
Sep 2, 2020
$29.76
$14,000
$13,920
-0.57%
$-80
Oct 2, 2020
$26.90
$14,500
$13,083
-9.78%
$-1,417
Nov 2, 2020
$26.87
$15,000
$13,568
-9.55%
$-1,432
Dec 2, 2020
$38.94
$15,500
$20,163
+30.08%
$4,663
Jan 4, 2021
$40.53
$16,000
$21,486
+34.29%
$5,486
Feb 2, 2021
$49.68
$16,500
$26,837
+62.65%
$10,337
Mar 2, 2021
$44.62
$17,000
$24,603
+44.73%
$7,603
Apr 5, 2021
$43.66
$17,500
$24,571
+40.41%
$7,071
May 3, 2021
$38.93
$18,000
$22,412
+24.51%
$4,412
Jun 2, 2021
$37.54
$18,500
$22,112
+19.52%
$3,612
Jul 2, 2021
$38.58
$19,000
$23,224
+22.23%
$4,224
Aug 2, 2021
$42.04
$19,500
$25,807
+32.34%
$6,307
Sep 2, 2021
$38.72
$20,000
$24,269
+21.34%
$4,269
Oct 4, 2021
$32.85
$20,500
$21,090
+2.88%
$590
Nov 2, 2021
$37.04
$21,000
$24,280
+15.62%
$3,280
Dec 2, 2021
$39.44
$21,500
$26,353
+22.57%
$4,853
Jan 3, 2022
$34.63
$22,000
$23,639
+7.45%
$1,639
Page 1 of 4
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about DCA investing in WLDN
Investing $500 per month in Willdan Group, Inc. (WLDN) over the past 6 years would be worth approximately $121K today. That's +152.1% total return on $48K invested, with a +15.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).