What is dollar cost averaging in simple terms?

Dollar cost averaging is an investment strategy where you invest a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, regardless of whether the market is up or down. For example, you might invest $200 every month into a stock or fund no matter what the price is doing. The benefit is that when prices are low, your fixed amount buys more shares, and when prices are high, it buys fewer. Over time this averages out your cost per share, reducing the risk of investing a large lump sum at the wrong time. It also removes emotion from investing since you're following a set schedule rather than trying to guess the best moment to buy.