If You Make Just 1 Investing Move in 2026, History Says It Should Be This

In less than two months, this year will come to an end. As we near the turn of the calendar on 2026, it’s a good time for investors to start thinking about the best ways to upgrade their portfolios.

Selling off positions that have been perennial losers or adding companies that have been on your watch list are two high-impact actions that immediately come to mind. I don’t think it needs to be a complex tactic that gets implemented. Simplicity often has the most profound impact. Introducing a small but consistent habit can lead to impressive long-term results.

That being said, if you’re looking to make just one investing move in 2026, history says it should be this one.

Adopt a strategy that emphasizes consistent buying

If you don’t already, it’s time to consider a dollar-cost average (DCA) approach before the year is over. This move entails buying individual stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at fixed intervals. The gap between purchases can differ, whether weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even yearly. Investors can match their buying with the timing of personal income inflows. This can even be automated by linking your bank account to your brokerage account.

The data backs up the advantage of DCAing. Of course, adding more money to your portfolio means that the ending balance will be much higher than if you don’t invest additional capital. That’s an obvious result.

For instance, investing $1,000 into the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF at a 10% compound annual growth rate, which is the historical average, would result in $25,900 after 10 years. If you add $100 on a monthly basis, that final balance inflates to $46,000. That’s about 78% higher than if you don’t DCA.

But it’s also beneficial to keep investing with no regard for what the market is doing, in essence completely avoiding the timing element. According to research from Invesco, eliminating just the 10 best trading days from 1995 to 2025 would’ve lowered the S&P 500 index’s (^GSPC +2.28%) annualized return to 7.4%, compared to 10.3% if you remained fully invested through the ups and downs.

Consistency beats trying to be a genius. This is especially true when time is on your side, which lets you make the most of compounding.

There’s a behavioral edge

“An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he or she avoids big mistakes,” Warren Buffett wrote in Berkshire Hathaway‘s 1992 shareholder letter. Deploying a DCA playbook means that there’s basically no chance to make any errors. Your purchasing is habitual in raging bull markets and panic-filled bear markets.

This is the best move for the vast majority of people. It’s a hassle-free, set-it-and-forget-it way to build wealth in the stock market. And emotion, which gets the best of even the most seasoned market participants, is completely removed from the equation when you adopt a DCA strategy.

Many people also don’t possess the required analytical capabilities, company-specific expertise, or free time to research investment opportunities. Even if they did have all of these attributes, there’s no guarantee that they’d outperform the market. Expert fund managers as a group struggle to beat the S&P 500 index over long periods of time, and they’re some of the brightest minds in the world.

You must be able to stick with a DCA approach, however, through the ups and downs. Those who pause contributions during downturns to avoid the pain or chase hot stocks to ride the wave undo its benefits as they switch to a more active role. Without patience and discipline, it’s a failure.

The behavioral edge can be powerful because it makes it significantly easier to stay the course. If you’re decades away from retirement, then it’s best to put money to work early and frequently. Buying at an all-time high doesn’t matter if your time horizon spans 30 years.