Q: Is it possible for me to manage my $500,000 nest egg myself, or is it better to hire a professional?

A: I’ll be the first one to tell you it’s possible to manage your own portfolio. But, there’s no shame in turning to a professional for help.

The dilemma over whether to do-it-yourself or hire professionals applies to any valuable asset, including your home or car. There’s no question that if you’re handy and willing to study a bit, you can change your car’s oil yourself or paint your house.

That’s true with your portfolio, too. If you’re willing to put in the time to study about portfolio management, learn about investing and stocks, there’s no reason why you couldn’t try your hand at managing your money. But just as you’d want to make sure you know what you’re doing if you put a new roof on your house, you want to be certain you’ve educated yourself if you’re going to run your own portfolio.

There are certainly advantages to doing things yourself. You can save a great deal of money if you fix your own car, house or portfolio. If you do it right, your own sweat equity will save you from paying fees and commissions.

You might decide, though, that you don’t have the time or the interest to manage your own investments. Similarly, many people decide they’re more comfortable hiring a roofing contractor than trying to put on their own roof. And there’s logic to this. If you don’t put your roof on right, it could leak and cost you more to repair the damage than it would have paid to hire a roofer in the first place.

Similarly, if you try to manage your own portfolio and make poor decisions by chasing hot stocks, selling when other investors are panicking or taking on more risk than is appropriate, you might have been much better off hiring a professional.

It’s a personal decision on whether or not you manage your own money. My biggest caution, though, is if you hire a money manager, be just as careful as you would with your home. If you put on a roof, you’d likely meet with at least three contractors to compare prices and approaches. You should do the same with money management firms.

You should ask what a money management firm will do with your money and how much they will charge. And you should confirm that a money manager has all the right licenses and regulatory approvals. If you don’t know how to check on a money manager, you can find some tips here from the Securities and Exchange Commission .

Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Click here to see previous Ask Matt columns. Follow Matt on Twitter at: twitter.com/mattkrantz