While investors of all stripes have had their confidence in the markets badly shaken, those sitting on a rollover from an individual retirement account, an inheritance or other windfall are in a particularly tough spot.

如今各类投资者对市场的信心都严重动摇，而那些拿个人退休账户、遗产或其他意外之财进行滚动投资的人更是处于两难境地。

Should they invest the money all at once (so-called lump-sum investing) or dribble it into the markets in equal increments over a period of months or years (dollar-cost averaging)?

他们应该将整笔钱一起投资（所谓的一次性投资），还是分散到数月或数年中进行多笔等额投资（平均成本投资法）？

The answer depends, in part, on whether they are more concerned with maximizing their long-term returns or minimizing their short-term risk of losses─and the psychological pain that can come from diving in just before a market tumble.

答案部分取决于投资者更关心长期收益最大化还是短期损失风险最小化──以及如果刚好在市场暴跌前入市会产生的心理痛苦的程度。

Studies have shown that, mathematically, you are better off diving in. This is because, historically, markets have gone up more than they've gone down.

研究表明，从数学上看，大举入市是更好的选择。这是因为，历史上市场上涨的机会多于下跌的机会。

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