\*\*My dip-buying system for VOO/QQQM that doesn't require me to make any decisions in the moment\*\*

I got tired of watching a 10% drop and asking myself "is this the one I should buy?" So I built a rules-based system and now I just... don't think about it.

\*\*How it works:\*\*

Every month on a fixed observation day, I place 4 limit orders at -5%, -10%, -15%, and -20% from the 3-month rolling high. Each one buys a fixed dollar amount if it hits. Orders stay live for the full month, then I reset on the next observation day.

On top of that, I DCA weekly regardless — so I'm always accumulating even if nothing triggers.

A few guardrails:

\- Each level triggers independently — a 12% drop fills both -5% and -10%

\- Each level has a 30-day cooldown so it won't double-fire

\- Below -20%, I keep buying every 5% with no floor

\- The reference point slides on a 3-month rolling window, so I'm never anchored to a peak from 6 months ago

\*\*The April 2025 crash is a good real-world stress test\*\*

The S&P 500 peaked on Feb 19. By my March observation day, I had limit orders sitting at roughly -5%, -10%, -15%, and -20% from that high — already loaded, no action needed.

Then Liberation Day hit on April 2. The market fell \~10% in two days alone (April 3–4). By April 8, VOO was sitting about 19% below its February peak. All four of my levels had triggered automatically across the month. I was buying on April 3, April 4, somewhere in between — at prices that, by June, were already 30%+ below where the market closed out the year at a new all-time high.

No panic decisions. No "should I wait for it to drop more?" No watching the news and freezing. The orders were already placed.

That's the whole point of making it systematic. When everyone else is glued to the tape wondering if the world is ending, I'd already bought the dip weeks earlier on autopilot.

Has anyone else formalized their dip-buying like this? Would love to hear what thresholds others use.

I placed 4 limit orders in March and bought VOO/QQQM automatically through the entire April crash. Here’s the system.