I am fairly versed with the stock market and equities in general but I wont manage my own investments. I could save about 5% a year by bringing everything in house and handling it myself, which could allow us to funnel the money saved back into the accounts. However, I know the value of paying a professional and the shortcomings of do-it-yourself investing.

I do believe everyone can do some investing on their own if they seek good counsel. I also believe the majority of your assets should be reviewed by someone else, preferably a fee-only Financial Planner or trusted Financial Advisor. Here are the 5 reasons why I wont manage my own investments:

1. Finding and Managing Investments is a Full Time Job

The average week contains 168 hours. This includes an average of 50 hours of work (including the commute), 56 hours of sleep, 8 hours of meals with family, and 2 5 hours of grooming. Pile on at least 5 hours of laundry, housecleaning, and mowing the lawn to the 10+ hours of running kids to-and-from practice, we have about 33 hours left for exercise, email, and balancing the checkbook. Technology has brought stock alerts and market news to the forefront of our smartphones and inside our email, but that doesnt make it any easier to learn about all the different investments we can choose from.

Your 33 hours of free time would be more profitably spent:

• Earning more money for investing (overtime, side job, passive income)
• Invest time honing your skills (making yourself more marketable for a higher paying position)
• Enjoying life (playing ball, taking cooking classes, taking a dip in the hot tub)

I purposefully spend 4 hours every week on Friday Night Pizza Nite. As the name implies, we throw our favorite toppings onto a frozen pizza, turn the TV towards the dinner table, and watch silly shows like Cupcake Wars or Wipeout (Jill is back). There is no ROR measurement for investments in my familys health by dedicating one evening a week to just being silly.

2. Fund Managers and Financial Advisors Are Experts

A simple Google search can offer me a dozen ways to save money by replacing a broken garage door or remodeling the bathroom by myself but I am much happier to pay someone else do it. Researching and evaluating new investments are full-time jobs for mutual fund managers and Financial Advisors. They are experts because this is how they spend their entire day. These professionals have access to resources that would make our heads swim or cost us precious hard-earned dollars that would be but to better use investing in their recommendations.

3. Movement Triggers Fees

If you are making money moves, even wise ones, you will likely trigger

• Long term capital gains
• Short term capital gains
• Trading fees

Each one of these eats away at your overall returns. How much are you spending on maintaining your investments? My 5% load is higher than I would like it to be but it pales in comparison to what we used to spend on two stocks I bought in 2001. One of these stocks was Boeing (BA). We bought 12 shares to get started and show those cowards that sent two planes into the Twin Towers that we believed in America. We also proved that we didnt know what we were doing. I assumed I had read all the information I needed before opening that Datek account (now a part of TD Ameritrade). You can imagine my disappointment when I found out our account was not big enough to avoid a $15 a month management fee. We paid the fees for 5 months before deciding to buy the stock certificate for $75. I paid some stupid tax for what has become a valuable lesson in managing my own investments.

4. Buy and Hold

Have you heard of the Buy and Hold principle? The idea is to buy an investment and hold on to it until you need to cash it in. This allows an equity to go through fluctuations in the market without triggering fees, often captures and reinvests dividends, and grows tax free in certain tax-favored accounts.

Since 2001, our Boeing stock has been on a roller coaster ride breaching $100 for a few wonderful weeks and then plummeting to $35 a share in March 2009. The stock pays a dividend, which we have re-invested back into more purchasing more shares (well, portions of a share). Our buy and hold experiment allowed us to buy more stock when prices were low and has grown us another share. Its not much, but imagine if it had been 1,200 shares? We would have spent $50,000 in 2001 and would have turned into 1,300 shares worth $110,000 today. Buy and hold isnt the only way to get rich, but it sure is easier than managing my own investments.

5. History Exposes An Active Investors Failure To Beat The Market

Statistics and studies have shown that a majority of actively managed accounts, the ones with multiple trades or purchases in a year, fail to come close to the average equitys performance. The problem isnt fees, the problem is investor behavior. In many cases, those who manage their own investments are prone to do the following:

• They get out too soon
• They get out when they shouldnt
• They stay out too long

Ask any Financial Advisor if they had a client that cashed out in March 2009 and they will spin you a yarn of a tale. Therefore, if a managed client cant see past the wisdom of their trusted advisor then what makes us think an active trader or self-made investor is less likely to jump ship when the forecast is gloomy? I have a genuine concern for those who exited the market at the low point because they are also more likely to have waited too long to get back in.

There are no guarantees, everything could go into the tank tomorrow. Therefore it is even more important that we are diligent with what we do control, our investing choices, and we spend less time dwelling on what has not yet happened. Hiring a team of professionals helps guide me through this thing called life and allows me to flourish in things of which I am skilled, and it frees up more time from having to manage my own investments.

Do you know the 12 key questions you must ask before hiring a Financial Advisor? Listen to this interview with CFP Scott Plaskett  to find out.