{"id":618,"date":"2021-03-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/why-youre-better-off-investing-on-your-own\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T16:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:54:16","slug":"why-youre-better-off-investing-on-your-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/why-youre-better-off-investing-on-your-own\/","title":{"rendered":"You\u2019re Likely Better Off Investing On Your Own. Here\u2019s Why."},"content":{"rendered":"

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This topic can be provocative. It gets the people going!<\/p>\n

In the personal finance world, this fact\u2014that you\u2019re likely better off investing on your own rather than paying another human being 1% of your net worth to do it for you\u2014is not really disputed. It\u2019s becoming accepted as the truth.<\/p>\n

What do I mean by \u201con your own\u201d? <\/h2>\n

When I say \u201con your own,\u201d I don\u2019t mean without any help at all (let\u2019s be honest, this entire website is dedicated to the fact that we all probably want some<\/em> help). After all, using a roboadvisor to manage your assets isn\u2019t free<\/em> (it\u2019s typically around 0.25% per year, or $25 per $10,000), but it\u2019s a lot less than the 1-2% fee that your friendly money manager named Dennis from Michigan will charge for a few hours of his time every year. <\/p>\n

What I mean is, you shouldn\u2019t, under almost any circumstances, pay another individual<\/em> (financial advisor or otherwise) a seemingly<\/em> low percentage of your net worth year over year to actively manage your money for you without knowing the alternatives. This is known as an assets under management<\/strong> model, and it can be incredibly costly\u2014but they won\u2019t tell you that. (Note that I\u2019m talking specifically about an AUM model, and not<\/em> an hourly fee-only model. Paying a professional who\u2019s both (a) fiduciary and (b) has a CFP designation for specific help and advice can be a very good<\/em> idea, as is employing other financial professionals when needed, like CPAs, especially as your net worth grows and situation becomes more complex.)<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m suggesting is being very wary<\/em> of models wherein all of your money is managed by another person for 1% (or more) each year. <\/p>\n

While we\u2019re about to dive head-first into the #sexymath, the fees you\u2019d be charged are intentionally deceptive. 1% per year? Who cares, right? You get to keep 99% of your money! What could be easier than that?<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what they want you to think.<\/p>\n

That 1% per year compounds just like your interest compounds, and I\u2019ll show you in a few moments just how debilitating this fee can be.<\/p>\n

The super-extra messed up part is that the 1% you\u2019re paying them is in addition to the funds\u2019 expense ratios themselves. For example, you may be paying 0.5% for the funds they\u2019re investing you in\u2014and then the extra 1% goes straight in their pocket.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s back it up a step first.<\/p>\n

Should I pay someone the 1% (or more) fee if they can get me better returns?<\/h2>\n

Well, sure!\u2026if it were that easy to do.<\/p>\n

A fund manager promising you they can just \u201cbeat the market\u201d for you would be like me joining a crowd of rowdy high school boys for a pick-up game of basketball and telling them I\u2019ll \u201cjust play like LeBron James.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think about this logically: If you\u2019re paying them a 1% fee, that means to even break even <\/em>with the market, they\u2019d have to beat it by at least 1% every single year, consistently (because you\u2019re paying them 1%). In order for it to be actually worth your while, they\u2019d have to beat the market by >1% every year.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019ve ever barely passed a test, you\u2019re probably like, \u201cHow hard could that be? 1 stinking percentage point? I could probably do that!\u201d<\/p>\n

And you\u2019re right\u2014beating the market once? It\u2019s possible. But do you know how possible? Let\u2019s dig into statistics:<\/p>\n

Fewer than 20% of actively managed funds beat the market over a 1-year timeframe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That means 80% of the time, passive investing (buying an index fund and holding it) wins when examined over a full year.<\/p>\n

But what about over 5 years?<\/p>\n

Fewer than 10% of actively managed funds beat the market over a 5-year timeframe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re a long-term investor like I am, you\u2019re probably curious what the long game is: Okay, Katie, sure, but what if I want to stick with this person for life? A long-term relationship? What about then?<\/em><\/p>\n

Glad you asked!<\/p>\n

Fewer than 1% of actively managed funds beat the market over a given 30-year timeframe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Source: ChooseFI episode 284, \u201cJL Collins Returns.\u201d You can check out the episode and summary notes <\/em>here<\/em><\/span><\/a>. JL also talks about these statistics in his book, The Simple Path to Wealth.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pretend you\u2019re gambling here: Would you like to go with the method that works 99% of the time, or the one that works 1% of the time?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a betting woman, but I know which one I\u2019d choose.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassive management\u201d of your money essentially means that you\u2019re buying (and holding) low-cost, diversified assets and\u2014instead of trying to beat <\/em>the market\u2014you\u2019re just trying to keep up with it.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about incentives<\/h2>\n

If this method seems so ineffective, why do people pay for it?<\/p>\n

These wealth management companies have good marketing. They\u2019ll sell you on some strategy they have (some \u201cproprietary methodology\u201d of picking funds, that, of course, they can\u2019t actually tell you about) and why it\u2019s worth the extra fees. Maybe they\u2019ll offer extra services. Regardless, you\u2019re paying through the nose for it.<\/p>\n

And you know what? You probably won\u2019t notice you\u2019re paying through the nose for it, because the fees are charged in an incredibly subtle way. Little by little, you\u2019ll be charged management fees on your statements. $50 here, $100 there\u2014you don\u2019t just receive a bill at the end of the year for $5,000. (Because if you did, they know you\u2019d take a step back and say, Wait a second, $5,000? I\u2019ve talked to my money guy twice this year for about an hour each time. I did <\/em>not<\/em><\/strong> get $5,000 worth of value out of this.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

And why does it work for them? They may tell you that their incentives are aligned to yours: When you make money, I make money! <\/em>Well, that\u2019s true\u2014they are<\/em> making money off your money\u2014but that statement is misleading. Even when you LOSE money, they still make money, because they\u2019re getting 1% of the total balance of your portfolio every. single. year., regardless of whether or not they beat (or even keep up with) the market. It goes up or it goes down, they collect their 1%.<\/p>\n

So while their incentives are slightly aligned to yours, their disincentives<\/em> are not.<\/p>\n

And you know what? It wouldn\u2019t even matter if they were<\/em> aligned\u2014because even the best fund manager in the world with the best of intentions could want more than anything<\/em> to beat the market for you, and still fail. That\u2019s how hard it is. You saw the numbers: Even in just a 1-year window, fewer than 20% of funds do it.<\/p>\n

Everyone loves to point to examples like Tesla. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve heard, \u201cWell, I bought Tesla at $100 and I\u2019ve made 39487239872% on it!\u201d That\u2019s wonderful, and I\u2019m genuinely happy the lucky stock pick worked, because it\u2019s rare\u2014and anytime it works is exciting.<\/p>\n

If you can consistently do that every single year for the rest of your life, then you\u2019re going to be a very rich person before long. But one bad pick? One pick that goes from $100 to $0? You wipe out all that positive momentum. Picking stocks is like gambling. Paying someone else to pick stocks for you is paying someone else to gamble your money.<\/p>\n

Index-based ETFs can\u2019t go to $0, because they\u2019re composed of hundreds (if not thousands) of companies.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the effect of these fees over time?<\/h2>\n

While the actual outcomes can vary depending on (a) how much you\u2019re investing and (b) over how much time (here\u2019s a NerdWallet article that illustrates how a 1% fee can cost Millennials with a long retirement horizon nearly $600,000 over their lifetimes<\/span><\/a>), a good way to think about it is this:<\/p>\n

You know how I love early retirement math? That you can withdraw 4% of your total portfolio value year over year and never run out of money after you invest 25x your annual expenses?<\/span><\/a> (See, I told you this math was sexy.)<\/p>\n

Think about that. If you save $1,000,000, you can withdraw $40,000 per year to live on, and compound interest will replenish your portfolio value (and then some, usually) by the time you go to withdraw again.<\/p>\n

How does a 1% fee impact that?<\/p>\n

Well\u2026 1% of your annual 4% withdrawal has to go to the guy who\u2019s spending about an hour a month glancing over your shit.<\/p>\n

Does that feel fair to you?<\/p>\n

No matter how little or much effort that person is exerting on your behalf\u2014even if they are well-intentioned, altruistic, and talented, as many are \u2013 the likelihood that that individual is going to be able to justify their own 1% value to you over a 30-year timeframe? We already know. It\u2019s less than 1%.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m spending $10,000 per year for someone to manage my $1M portfolio, that actually means I could<\/strong> run out of money if I needed $40,000 per year to live. That\u2019s the difference 1% can make.<\/p>\n

In order to generate $10,000 of interest income per year to pay your fund manager, you\u2019d need to have an additional $250,000 invested (25x your $10,000 annual expense).<\/p>\n

That means you no longer get to retire at $1M saved\u2014you need $1.25M. And guess what? Now your fee goes up, because 1% of $1.25M is $12,500. Which means you need an extra $312,500, not $250,000 saved. Which means it goes up to $1.31M. Which means\u2026<\/p>\n

See where I\u2019m going with this? See why that pesky little 1% becomes unsustainably problematic for your early retirement dreams?<\/p>\n

The behavioral value-add<\/h2>\n

Because more and more retail investors are becoming familiar with the way fees compound and the infrequency with which professionals (even hedge fund managers, the supposed creme of the crop) beat the market, many financial professionals position their true value-add as behavioral<\/em>. As in: They create a barrier between you and your money to help prevent you from panic-selling during a bear market.<\/p>\n

While I think this argument is valid (and a more accurate representation of their value add), I would note that it\u2019s\u2014by definition\u2014completely in your control whether or not you have the behavioral chops to ride the waves of a bear market. If you\u2019re reading this article, my guess is you\u2019re attempting to make a good faith effort at learning enough to do just that. <\/p>\n

Paying someone else 1% per year to manage your emotions for you (among other things) is expensive, in my mind, but its true value is subjective if you\u2019re afraid you\u2019ll panic-slap the sell button.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like, But Katie, I need #help<\/h2>\n

Welcome to my purpose in life\u2014and the purpose of this site.<\/p>\n

Because I know some people don\u2019t feel comfortable investing tens of thousands of dollars on their own, I think roboadvisor solutions (which charge a fraction of what an active fund manager would demand of you) are the perfect middle ground. I\u2019ve recommended it to people for years<\/em> since I found it in 2018 because you literally don\u2019t need to know anything about investing to use it.<\/p>\n

Roboadvisors utilize the same \u201cbuy and hold\u201d strategy that iconic investors like Warren Buffett (one of the greatest investors of all time) and Jack Bogle (founder of Vanguard and inventor of the index fund) advise, but they can ensure proper diversification on your behalf, harvest losses for tax benefits, and coordinate your asset allocation properly across tax-advantaged and taxable accounts to minimize your liability.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a fancy way of saying they\u2019ll do all of the actually<\/strong> valuable things a financial advisor would do for you, without the whole \u201cfoolishly trying to beat the market, triggering a bunch of taxable events, and charging you handsomely to do it\u201d part.<\/p>\n

One of the primary reasons I always suggest robos for people who are gun-shy about investing is that their website and app are incredibly user-friendly. You don\u2019t get the sense that you\u2019re going to press the wrong button and blow up the Pentagon, which is how I feel half the time I use traditional brokerage firm websites.<\/p>\n

And of course, if you do<\/em> feel comfortable operating directly on Vanguard.com, you can buy diversified index funds with extremely low expense ratios there directly and remove the middleman entirely.<\/p>\n

Fees<\/h3>\n

You\u2019re probably wondering how I\u2019m cool with a 0.25% fee when I just railed against a 1% fee (although in investing, that\u2019s a significant difference).<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why I\u2019m okay with the ~0.25% fee: The level of diversification, control, and tax advantages justify it to me. I don\u2019t have the patience or time to enact tax loss harvesting (tax loss harvesting is where you basically sell an asset that\u2019s down to \u201crealize the loss\u201d for tax purposes, and then immediately buy a similar asset to hop back in the market and participate in the rally, but you have to be careful not to violate the wash sale rule<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Moreover, when you decide you want to rebalance, you just change your breakdown and most robos will execute the trades in the most tax-efficient way.<\/p>\n

You literally slide a glider further to the left or right of a \u201cstocks vs. bonds\u201d spectrum to set your risk tolerance, and the portfolio will be optimized by an algorithm in an appropriate way without making tax-heavy mistakes (that frankly, I don\u2019t trust regular people not to make\u2014I pride myself on knowing what I\u2019m doing, but taxes on that micro level can be tricky).<\/p>\n

I like how they\u2019ll show you a warning message when you do something that, even after they strategize on your behalf about how to execute the trade, it still may result in a tax bill of $X. You\u2019re able to determine before moving forward whether or not you\u2019re comfortable with that, rather than plowing blindly forward and hoping for the best, with no surprises.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t meant to be a trash talk session on actively managed fund advisors<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s only intended to show you what you\u2019re likely really paying for\u2014a slim chance at beating the market, with a big, big long-term price tag.<\/p>\n

Every single time I go home, I try to convince my parents to break up with their financial advisor, but they\u2019re in too deep. I think they\u2019re afraid to calculate how much they\u2019ve paid him over the last three decades, but trust me, he\u2019s probably got a vacation home on my parents\u2019 dime in exchange for their biannual phone calls. Good for him. I can\u2019t deny the guy\u2019s a hustler.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I know I\u2019ll probably receive some heat for this one, but I cannot\u2014in good blogger faith\u2014ignore this topic just because there are financial advisors in my audience.<\/p>\n

And you know what? If you consider all of this and still decide it\u2019s worth it to you, that\u2019s your prerogative and I\u2019ll just be happy you\u2019re making the decision knowing all the facts.<\/p>\n

But trust me when I tell you: You are competent enough to take the simple path. If I thought there were a complicated<\/em> path I could take that would produce better returns but cost a little more time or money, believe me, I\u2019d be doing it. #YearnToEarn, remember? I love money and #gainz, so I\u2019d put the legwork (or investment) into a better way if there were one. If the data told me that actively managed funds and fund managers were worth it, I\u2019d pay their fee.<\/p>\n

Low-cost, diversified index funds that are tax-optimized is going to be your best possible chance at becoming a 35-year-old millionaire in 99.9 of 100 scenarios, unless you create an app and get acquired by Google. Then, do that instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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