just mere reading through what you have wrote here shows how a completely innocent newbie thinks when he's about getting started in his investment and I tell you this, no one hasn't had this feeling that he's already late as long as it concerns investing in bitcoin. ask those that started investing in bitcoin at $10k and they will tell you that they had the opportunity of investing earlier enough when bitcoin was below $500 and that it will be best to wait for a DIP before buying. sometimes in a bid to wait for the DIP, bitcoin might end up going really high to the point you start to regret not buying at the time you had the opportunity of buying bat a lesser amount.

note that if the amount you are using to make your purchase isn't much, even if you wait for a 40% DIP, the difference won't be much whether you bought now or wait for a long time before buying. to avoid some of this complex possibility, the use of the DCA method helps you to start building your portfolio bit by bit without being too concerned of the bitcoin price at the different time you wish to buy.

now you know the basics of bitcoin, starting small will be the best thing to do and depending on what you can afford, you can choose to start from $10 per week, $20 per week or so on depending on your financial capability. since the intention is to do it for the long term, you can just continue to build it this way till your finance increases and you can now decide to also increase it in a manner that is proportionate to how well your finance has grown. the earlier you start getting things right and also work on your emergency funds on time so you are never pressured to sell too soon even when your are in a slight profit, it will at the end help you continue to accumulate your bitcoin seamlessly for the long term.