Show Me How Pound-Cost Averaging Works in Practice

Pound-cost averaging gets explained in theory and stays abstract. This shows it with numbers: invest a set amount monthly for a year into a fund whose price moves, with a month-by-month table of price, units bought and units held, then compares it against a lump sum at the start of the year on the same prices. You see when each wins. For investors deciding how to phase money in.

Explain pound-cost averaging (PCA) to me and demonstrate how it works using a concrete numerical example. Use a scenario where I invest £{MONTHLY_AMOUNT} per month for 12 months into a fund whose price fluctuates: show a month-by-month table with unit price, units bought, and cumulative units held. Then compare the outcome to investing a lump sum of £{LUMP_SUM} at the start of the year using the same price data. Conclude by explaining when PCA is genuinely advantageous versus when a lump-sum investment tends to win, citing evidence.