Can you learn to invest by yourself? It sounds a little scary. But for the vast majority of people, there really is nothing difficult or scary about Do-lt-Yourself Investing. What you are missing is knowledge. Knowledge is power!

Paying someone fees of 1.5 or 2% per year to manage your money is just far too expensive.  After 40 years, you could end up paying half of all your savings in fees!  Imagine having only $500,000 for retirement instead of $1,000,000.

Take the time to learn to invest your money youself.  Millions have done it and millions more can do it with a little effort and time.  The costs of ignoring this advice are just too high.  Consider this simple plan.

If you want to be a successful D.I.Y. investor, you need to follow these 4 rules.

1. Pay off all your debt, except mortgage debt, before investing (If your employer provides matching funds to your retirement plan, take them up on the offer even if you still have debt).
2. Run down to your local bank and set up a self directed trading account. Do not accept the bank’s offer to sit down with an advisor.
3. Instead go home and invest 10% of your income in low cost index funds. For young Canadians, this could be Vanguard’s VGRO which invests 80% in Canadian and world stocks and 20% in bonds.
4. Repeat step 3 until you are 65 years old and ready to retire.