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How to Set Up Automatic Monthly Investing: A Guide for Czech Investors
Key takeaways
- Automatic investing removes the need to make a conscious decision every month — a key protective mechanism against emotional mistakes.
- Most modern brokers offer a recurring buy — check whether your broker is among them.
- Set up a standing order to your broker and a scheduled ETF purchase so they both run automatically on the same day.
- Automation does not mean forgetting: once a year, check your allocation and rebalance if needed.
- A small regular investment is better than an irregular large one — automation guarantees that.
Automatic investing is the simplest way to ensure you invest every month — regardless of mood, news, or fear of ATH.
How automation works
You set up two steps: a regular bank transfer to your brokerage account and a scheduled ETF purchase (recurring buy) on the broker platform. Both steps then run without any intervention — every month, on the same day. The result is clean DCA (dollar-cost averaging) without emotions.
Setup on selected platforms
- Trading 212 Invest/ISA: the "Pies" tab lets you set a recurring purchase in precise percentage allocations. You choose the frequency and amount.
- Interactive Brokers: offers recurring orders through the "Recurring Investments" feature. Suitable for more experienced investors.
- Degiro: no automated plan is available directly in the app; the solution is a combination of a standing order and a manual or scripted purchase.
- Fondee / Portu: automation is built into the core of the product — you simply set the amount and the date.
What automation will not do for you
Automation does not handle rebalancing. Once a year — for example, on the anniversary of starting your plan — check whether your allocation is still close to the target. If equities have grown and now represent 90% instead of the target 80%, redirect new purchases into bonds or another underweighted class. A checklist to review before each check is in the article ETF purchase checklist.
FAQ
Does my broker need to have an automatic purchase feature?
Not necessarily. A bank standing order (money transfer) combined with personal discipline or a simple reminder for a manual purchase is sufficient. But the automatic feature is much more convenient and eliminates the chance of skipping a month.
Which day of the month is best for the automatic purchase?
From a returns perspective, it does not matter. Psychologically, choosing a day shortly after payday is good — it minimizes the risk of spending the money first. Any consistently recurring day works.
What happens if I have a difficult month and want to pause?
That is precisely when automation is most valuable. Pausing a plan during a market decline is a classic emotional mistake — you stop buying exactly when shares are cheaper. Let the automation run.