DIY investing is NOT for everyone. While technically anyone can learn the methods and strategies for managing their own portfolio, much of the population does not have the fundamental temperament to take on this task. If you look at the population here that does do well with DIY investing, you'll see that they have certain personality traits that lend themselves to being able to follow the proper methods and strategies.
Not everyone has these personality traits.
I'm not talking about high level behavioral traits that can be unlearned, with habituation of more appropriate traits. These are low level properties, fear/flight responses, panic and stress responses that don't reside in the gray and white matter of the brain where 'rewiring' can take place, but deep down in structures like the hypothalamus, residue of ancient survival reflexes. Oh, we can manage to override these from time to time, but they are still present, still busily dumping stress response chemicals into the bloodstream. Folks with more active low level properties like these have trouble making major financial decisions, second guessing themselves as stress and anxiety responses interfere with rational decision making.
Not everyone is a cool, calm rational actor.
Now, it's true that some folks learn to mask out or suppress these ancient responses, and can imitate a rational actor for some time. Eventually, though, that stuff leaks through, the walls crumble, and Really Bad Stuff happens. "He seemed to be such a nice, quiet man, Officer."
Others learn to live with these responses, know and understand their own limitations and capabilities, and act appropriately. They may be artists, musicians, writers, or architects. They might be superb athletes. They know their limitations and capabilities, and choose accordingly.
For folks who know themselves sufficiently well, choosing to have a third party manage their investments may not be a bad choice. For others, the best choice may be to manage their own finances. We HAVE choices. One size does not fit all.
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