November 18, 2025 • 10 mins
“Hey Mike, what’s a common misconception you run into with DIY investors?”
Discover why buying and holding ETFs may not be as good of a strategy as you may believe.
Text your questions to 913-363-1234.
Request Your Wealth Analysis by going to www.retireontime.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike (00:05):
Welcome to How to Retire On Time, a show that answers
your retirement questions. We'rehere to move past that
oversimplified advice you'veheard hundreds of times.
Instead, we're we're gonna getinto the nitty gritty here. Have
some fun. As always, text yourquestions to (913) 363-1234.
And remember, this is just ashow, not financial advice.
David, what do we got today?
David (00:24):
Hey, Mike. What's a common misconception you run
into with DIY investors? Sothese are the people who maybe
they wanna go it alone, theydon't wanna work with an
adviser, or they don't wannatrust other people to manage
their money.
Mike (00:38):
Yeah. I wanna categorize the DIY investor into two
groups. There are some DIYinvestors that would probably
make better financial advisersthan most current financial
advisers. They're brilliant.They have their systems.
They get up in the morning. Theyknow what to do. They're really,
really good about managing theirportfolio. I have I have no
(01:02):
problem Yeah. With themmaintaining that.
I think it's a good thing. Infact, many of these individuals
do a great job. It gives thempurpose. You need critical
thought and responsibility inretirement for it to be a
healthy experience. So to saythat all DIY investors are bad
(01:22):
is ridiculous.
Personally, I've gotten to knowmany of them who are actually
clients of ours that are reallygood DIY investors. They're
really good about reading themarkets. They know how to buy
things and manage the portfolio.They're clients of ours for tax
reasons. And I don't know anyDIY investors that say, well,
we're also professional taxexperts, blah blah blah.
Tax is a whole anotherspecialty. So that's one group.
(01:48):
The other group is the personthat has been taught over and
over on TikTok and Instagram,and they've been told things
like, well, most financialadvisers can't keep up with the
S and P, so just buy one ETF,and that's all you need, and
forget this industry that justtakes advantage of you. Blah
blah blah blah blah. Well, youever wonder why they're so
(02:08):
upset?
You ever wonder, like, what'stheir incentive? What are they
selling? Kind of awkward whenyou think about it, especially
this one I'm thinking of inparticular. This
David (02:19):
is like an influencer you're thinking of?
Mike (02:20):
Yeah. We'll call him an influencer. Okay. A former fund
manager Yeah. Who only lasted acouple of months in the industry
David (02:27):
Yeah.
Mike (02:28):
Walks around the woods and says, if I have $3,000,000 in
retirement, here's what I woulddo. Okay. Mhmm. Most people
don't have $3,000,000, and thenhe has like some arbitrary just
puts everything in the S and P500 and dollar cost averages
out, completely ignoring how theS and P isn't that good of a
dividend play, completelyignoring that if he's selling
(02:51):
some of his assets, theirsequence of returns risk, and
all these other things that werecompletely omitted from his
short TikTok reel. Yeah.
And he says it in such a pompousway. And if you really
understand finance, there's areason why professionals don't
go all in on just one ETF, andit's not to make us look sound
(03:14):
or smart or whatever. That was avery unarticulate way. So I
guess I proved my point. Butthere's a reason why some will
put bond funds in a portfolio.
There's a reason why people likeus have a bear market protocol
with bear market reserves, sosome assets that are protected.
There's a reason why wediversify a little bit. There's
(03:35):
a reason why a lot of thesethings are done, and it's
difficult when you're gettingthis propaganda of, well, you
could do better on your own.Yeah. You could do better on
your own, but the odds are notin your favor.
You know those YouTubers? And bythe way, have nothing against
YouTubers and influencers, butthe educational sharks or
predators that say, I've got asystem that works. Mhmm. And you
(03:59):
buy the program for $10 orwhatever, and I'll show you how
to make millions. Well, firstoff, if that were true, you
wouldn't be selling the coursefor $10.
You'd be selling it for at leastlike a $100,000. You'd have some
sort of guarantee with it if itreally worked. But if you look
at the bottom disclosures, itsays results are not common. So
(04:21):
when you see these self made,self proclaimed people bragging
about their alleged returns,saying they've got a system,
look at the disclosure, and whenit says results are not common,
which they have to put thatthere because of FTC law, I'd
question the methodology. Thepoint of all this is to say, if
(04:44):
you've already been an investor,if you already have a system and
it's worked for you, and ifyou've managed money, this is
key, during a down market, abear market, and the corona
crash really doesn't count, Thatwas too quick.
You didn't really experiencepain. The 02/2223, the slow
(05:04):
burn, you didn't reallyexperience pain in the market.
The last time I remember themarket truly being a bear
market, truly being an uglymarket was either 02/2002 or
2008. It's not really a bearmarket unless you think the
financial global economy isabout to collapse. Then it's a
(05:26):
real market crash.
David (05:27):
If maybe you think I I can't retire now. I gotta keep
working.
Mike (05:30):
Oh, yeah. That's a very sobering bet when we run a
simulation. Say, alright. Here'snow the 02/2002, and the 2008
simulation. Let's say you did doeverything based on the S and P
five hundred's return.
Uh-huh. And they show their4,000,000 go to 2,000,000. How
comfortable are you now? Oh, bythe way, you're taking out
income, so it's less than2,000,000. How comfortable are
you?
Some understand it and arecomfortable because they lived
(05:54):
it. And they were prepared, theyhad the systems that allowed
them to manage money even inthose situations. Others,
especially those who are gettinginto investing, you might say
you're tough. I wouldn't riskit. It's one thing to
theoretically be prepared.
It's another to have actuallydone it. So what was the
(06:16):
question again? Something like,what's a common mistake?
David (06:18):
Yeah. What's a common misconception that you run into
with DIY investors?
Mike (06:23):
I would say it's the emotional stability or grit that
you think you have. The lastfifteen years have been easy.
What's coming, I don't thinkwill be easy. Are you really
prepared for it? I have foundthat many people are trying to
be DIY investors because theydon't wanna pay fees.
David (06:42):
Oh, right.
Mike (06:44):
I get the fee issue. I think it's weird to charge
someone a percentage of theirassets when it's kind of the
same job. That's why we're aflat fee model. It's the same
amount per month regardless. SoI get that side of it.
I get their questioning, but theconclusion that they make is not
(07:05):
based on the evidence orargument given. It's almost like
they're more focused on controland or they have trust issues
because of a bad experience thantrying to find what is right and
who would make the most sensefor them to work with. What's
the system? It's all aboutsystems. What's the system, not
the sentiment?
(07:26):
What's the system for marketsgoing up? What's the system for
markets going down? And do youwanna maintain that system?
There really is no set it andforget it system unless you
don't need the money. If youdon't need the money, great.
Stop looking at your statements.Stop looking at your portfolio.
Yeah. But I know you are, andthere's a reason for that. You
(07:46):
need it to work, especially inretirement.
Most people when they retireneed their money to work. So you
have to take a little bit ofhumble pie, and ask yourself,
are you really prepared for it?Now there's other things too.
Most people that are in the DIYspace that are newer to it will
think more risk, more reward.And you see these stupid posts
(08:07):
on X saying, my whole portfoliois in Nvidia and Palantir.
Well, that works until itdoesn't. Mhmm. And that's
another one that I'll I'll addto this list, is the amateur DIY
investor thinks they're reallysmart because they tried
something and it worked. Andthey're ignoring when it won't
work. Everyone was a brilliantcrypto investor until they're
(08:33):
not.
Anyone that invested in Nvidiaand Palantir and, I mean, even
like Western Digital and theseother anything that supports AI,
a brilliant investor untilyou're not. So things cycle,
things shift. It's happened overand over as old as time. What
(08:54):
we've learned from history isthat people don't learn from
history. It's a Warren Buffettquote.
I can't take that. Or CharlieMunger. I think it was Warren
that said it.
David (09:00):
Sounded pretty brilliant. Yeah. It wasn't me.
Mike (09:03):
But the point being, look up on YouTube the Dunning Kruger
effect. When you lack sufficientexperience, you don't know the
right questions to ask. And ifyou don't know the right
questions to ask, you willoverestimate your own abilities.
And that's my biggest concern ispeople are saying, well, I'm
gonna start paying attention tomy four zero one k. I wanna
(09:23):
retire in the next couple ofyears, and I'm I'm going to
really pay attention and startlearning this.
Good luck.
David (09:30):
Mhmm.
Mike (09:30):
Now that doesn't mean you need to pay an adviser ongoing
fees for the rest of your life,but it would make sense in my
opinion. And yes, there's aconflict of interest because we
offer this service. I'm openlyadmitting that. Okay? But
whether you work with us orsomeone else, I would implore
you to either get a one timeplan fully understanding a
(09:52):
written system to follow, or getan adviser or a coach that's
gonna help you through thedifficult times.
One or the other. The researchis clear. Having a third party
help you better yourself isbetter than trying to figure it
out on your own. And no ChatGPTcan't give you a perfect
retirement plan that reallyunderstands what's going on.
(10:14):
That's my thought.
That's all the time we've gotfor the show today. If you
enjoyed the show, considersubscribing to it wherever you
get your podcasts. Just searchfor how to retire on time.
Discover if your portfolio isbuilt to weather flat market
cycles or if you're missing taxminimization opportunities that
you may not even know exist.Explore strategies that may be
(10:35):
able to help you lower youroverall risk while potentially
increasing your overall growthand lifestyle flexibility.
This is not your ordinaryfinancial analysis. Learn more
about Your Wealth Analysis andwhat it could do for you
regardless of your age, asset,or target retirement date, go to
ww.yourwealthanalysis.com todayto learn more and get started.
Welcome to How to Retire On Time, a show that answers
your retirement questions. We'rehere to move past that
oversimplified advice you'veheard hundreds of times.
Instead, we're we're gonna getinto the nitty gritty here. Have
some fun. As always, text yourquestions to (913) 363-1234.
And remember, this is just ashow, not financial advice.
David, what do we got today?
David (00:24):
Hey, Mike. What's a common misconception you run
into with DIY investors? Sothese are the people who maybe
they wanna go it alone, theydon't wanna work with an
adviser, or they don't wannatrust other people to manage
their money.
Mike (00:38):
Yeah. I wanna categorize the DIY investor into two
groups. There are some DIYinvestors that would probably
make better financial advisersthan most current financial
advisers. They're brilliant.They have their systems.
They get up in the morning. Theyknow what to do. They're really,
really good about managing theirportfolio. I have I have no
(01:02):
problem Yeah. With themmaintaining that.
I think it's a good thing. Infact, many of these individuals
do a great job. It gives thempurpose. You need critical
thought and responsibility inretirement for it to be a
healthy experience. So to saythat all DIY investors are bad
(01:22):
is ridiculous.
Personally, I've gotten to knowmany of them who are actually
clients of ours that are reallygood DIY investors. They're
really good about reading themarkets. They know how to buy
things and manage the portfolio.They're clients of ours for tax
reasons. And I don't know anyDIY investors that say, well,
we're also professional taxexperts, blah blah blah.
Tax is a whole anotherspecialty. So that's one group.
(01:48):
The other group is the personthat has been taught over and
over on TikTok and Instagram,and they've been told things
like, well, most financialadvisers can't keep up with the
S and P, so just buy one ETF,and that's all you need, and
forget this industry that justtakes advantage of you. Blah
blah blah blah blah. Well, youever wonder why they're so
(02:08):
upset?
You ever wonder, like, what'stheir incentive? What are they
selling? Kind of awkward whenyou think about it, especially
this one I'm thinking of inparticular. This
David (02:19):
is like an influencer you're thinking of?
Mike (02:20):
Yeah. We'll call him an influencer. Okay. A former fund
manager Yeah. Who only lasted acouple of months in the industry
David (02:27):
Yeah.
Mike (02:28):
Walks around the woods and says, if I have $3,000,000 in
retirement, here's what I woulddo. Okay. Mhmm. Most people
don't have $3,000,000, and thenhe has like some arbitrary just
puts everything in the S and P500 and dollar cost averages
out, completely ignoring how theS and P isn't that good of a
dividend play, completelyignoring that if he's selling
(02:51):
some of his assets, theirsequence of returns risk, and
all these other things that werecompletely omitted from his
short TikTok reel. Yeah.
And he says it in such a pompousway. And if you really
understand finance, there's areason why professionals don't
go all in on just one ETF, andit's not to make us look sound
(03:14):
or smart or whatever. That was avery unarticulate way. So I
guess I proved my point. Butthere's a reason why some will
put bond funds in a portfolio.
There's a reason why people likeus have a bear market protocol
with bear market reserves, sosome assets that are protected.
There's a reason why wediversify a little bit. There's
(03:35):
a reason why a lot of thesethings are done, and it's
difficult when you're gettingthis propaganda of, well, you
could do better on your own.Yeah. You could do better on
your own, but the odds are notin your favor.
You know those YouTubers? And bythe way, have nothing against
YouTubers and influencers, butthe educational sharks or
predators that say, I've got asystem that works. Mhmm. And you
(03:59):
buy the program for $10 orwhatever, and I'll show you how
to make millions. Well, firstoff, if that were true, you
wouldn't be selling the coursefor $10.
You'd be selling it for at leastlike a $100,000. You'd have some
sort of guarantee with it if itreally worked. But if you look
at the bottom disclosures, itsays results are not common. So
(04:21):
when you see these self made,self proclaimed people bragging
about their alleged returns,saying they've got a system,
look at the disclosure, and whenit says results are not common,
which they have to put thatthere because of FTC law, I'd
question the methodology. Thepoint of all this is to say, if
(04:44):
you've already been an investor,if you already have a system and
it's worked for you, and ifyou've managed money, this is
key, during a down market, abear market, and the corona
crash really doesn't count, Thatwas too quick.
You didn't really experiencepain. The 02/2223, the slow
(05:04):
burn, you didn't reallyexperience pain in the market.
The last time I remember themarket truly being a bear
market, truly being an uglymarket was either 02/2002 or
2008. It's not really a bearmarket unless you think the
financial global economy isabout to collapse. Then it's a
(05:26):
real market crash.
David (05:27):
If maybe you think I I can't retire now. I gotta keep
working.
Mike (05:30):
Oh, yeah. That's a very sobering bet when we run a
simulation. Say, alright. Here'snow the 02/2002, and the 2008
simulation. Let's say you did doeverything based on the S and P
five hundred's return.
Uh-huh. And they show their4,000,000 go to 2,000,000. How
comfortable are you now? Oh, bythe way, you're taking out
income, so it's less than2,000,000. How comfortable are
you?
Some understand it and arecomfortable because they lived
(05:54):
it. And they were prepared, theyhad the systems that allowed
them to manage money even inthose situations. Others,
especially those who are gettinginto investing, you might say
you're tough. I wouldn't riskit. It's one thing to
theoretically be prepared.
It's another to have actuallydone it. So what was the
(06:16):
question again? Something like,what's a common mistake?
David (06:18):
Yeah. What's a common misconception that you run into
with DIY investors?
Mike (06:23):
I would say it's the emotional stability or grit that
you think you have. The lastfifteen years have been easy.
What's coming, I don't thinkwill be easy. Are you really
prepared for it? I have foundthat many people are trying to
be DIY investors because theydon't wanna pay fees.
David (06:42):
Oh, right.
Mike (06:44):
I get the fee issue. I think it's weird to charge
someone a percentage of theirassets when it's kind of the
same job. That's why we're aflat fee model. It's the same
amount per month regardless. SoI get that side of it.
I get their questioning, but theconclusion that they make is not
(07:05):
based on the evidence orargument given. It's almost like
they're more focused on controland or they have trust issues
because of a bad experience thantrying to find what is right and
who would make the most sensefor them to work with. What's
the system? It's all aboutsystems. What's the system, not
the sentiment?
(07:26):
What's the system for marketsgoing up? What's the system for
markets going down? And do youwanna maintain that system?
There really is no set it andforget it system unless you
don't need the money. If youdon't need the money, great.
Stop looking at your statements.Stop looking at your portfolio.
Yeah. But I know you are, andthere's a reason for that. You
(07:46):
need it to work, especially inretirement.
Most people when they retireneed their money to work. So you
have to take a little bit ofhumble pie, and ask yourself,
are you really prepared for it?Now there's other things too.
Most people that are in the DIYspace that are newer to it will
think more risk, more reward.And you see these stupid posts
(08:07):
on X saying, my whole portfoliois in Nvidia and Palantir.
Well, that works until itdoesn't. Mhmm. And that's
another one that I'll I'll addto this list, is the amateur DIY
investor thinks they're reallysmart because they tried
something and it worked. Andthey're ignoring when it won't
work. Everyone was a brilliantcrypto investor until they're
(08:33):
not.
Anyone that invested in Nvidiaand Palantir and, I mean, even
like Western Digital and theseother anything that supports AI,
a brilliant investor untilyou're not. So things cycle,
things shift. It's happened overand over as old as time. What
(08:54):
we've learned from history isthat people don't learn from
history. It's a Warren Buffettquote.
I can't take that. Or CharlieMunger. I think it was Warren
that said it.
David (09:00):
Sounded pretty brilliant. Yeah. It wasn't me.
Mike (09:03):
But the point being, look up on YouTube the Dunning Kruger
effect. When you lack sufficientexperience, you don't know the
right questions to ask. And ifyou don't know the right
questions to ask, you willoverestimate your own abilities.
And that's my biggest concern ispeople are saying, well, I'm
gonna start paying attention tomy four zero one k. I wanna
(09:23):
retire in the next couple ofyears, and I'm I'm going to
really pay attention and startlearning this.
Good luck.
David (09:30):
Mhmm.
Mike (09:30):
Now that doesn't mean you need to pay an adviser ongoing
fees for the rest of your life,but it would make sense in my
opinion. And yes, there's aconflict of interest because we
offer this service. I'm openlyadmitting that. Okay? But
whether you work with us orsomeone else, I would implore
you to either get a one timeplan fully understanding a
(09:52):
written system to follow, or getan adviser or a coach that's
gonna help you through thedifficult times.
One or the other. The researchis clear. Having a third party
help you better yourself isbetter than trying to figure it
out on your own. And no ChatGPTcan't give you a perfect
retirement plan that reallyunderstands what's going on.
(10:14):
That's my thought.
That's all the time we've gotfor the show today. If you
enjoyed the show, considersubscribing to it wherever you
get your podcasts. Just searchfor how to retire on time.
Discover if your portfolio isbuilt to weather flat market
cycles or if you're missing taxminimization opportunities that
you may not even know exist.Explore strategies that may be
(10:35):
able to help you lower youroverall risk while potentially
increasing your overall growthand lifestyle flexibility.
This is not your ordinaryfinancial analysis. Learn more
about Your Wealth Analysis andwhat it could do for you
regardless of your age, asset,or target retirement date, go to
ww.yourwealthanalysis.com todayto learn more and get started.
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