NASDAQ 100 · DCA since 2008
$500/month in NASDAQ 100 since 2008
What a monthly $500 dollar-cost average into NASDAQ 100 would be worth today if you'd started in January 2008 and never stopped. Real adjusted closes, T+1 execution, no transaction fees modeled.
If you invested $500/month in NASDAQ 100 from 2008-01 to 2026-06...
$815,501
grown from $111,000 invested over 18.5 years. +$704,501 (+634.69%)
Growth over time
Dashed: cumulative invested · Solid: portfolio value
Investment schedule
- Per investment
- $500.00
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Window
- 2008-01-01 → 2026-06-29
- Duration
- 18.5 years
- Number of investments
- 222× $500.00 each
Results
- Total invested
- $111,000222 × $500.00
- Final value
- $815,501as of 2026-06-29
- Total return
- +$704,501+634.69%
- Annualized (IRR)
- 18.83%/yrcompounded over 18.5 years
What 2008 actually was: into the crash
Starting a DCA in 2008 is the most-asked counterfactual in personal finance. You bought into a full-scale collapse for an entire year, then bought even cheaper through 2009. The recovery rewarded patience: those low-price purchases compounded for the next 15 years. This is the year DCA defenders point to when arguing against trying to time the market.
For a NASDAQ 100 DCA buyer who started January 2008 with $500 a month, the schedule pulled in 222 purchases through 2026-06-29. Total invested: $111,000. Final value: $815,501. That works out to an annualized return of 18.83% per year on the irregular cashflow series.
The numbers above use adjusted closing prices (dividends reinvested, splits applied) and apply a T+1 policy: when the 1st of the month landed on a weekend or holiday, the trade executed at the next trading day's close. Bitcoin pages execute on the exact scheduled date because crypto trades 24/7.
Change the numbers
Want to test a different amount, frequency, or end date? The full calculator has the same NASDAQ 100 dataset behind it.