At CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, we believe successful retirement planning requires more than choosing investments. It requires discipline, coordination, tax awareness, withdrawal planning, risk management, and the ability to make calm decisions when markets are anything but calm.

That is why our firm is selective about the clients we serve.

One group we generally do not pursue is the do-it-yourself investor.

That may sound unusual. After all, many DIY investors are intelligent, motivated, and financially curious. Some have spent years reading market commentary, watching financial television, comparing funds, attending seminars, and managing their own accounts.

But intelligence and investment discipline are not the same thing.

The challenge is not that DIY investors lack information. In most cases, they have too much of it. The challenge is that information does not automatically become wisdom, and activity does not automatically become progress.

The Data Is Not Kind to Investor Behavior

For decades, studies of investor behavior have shown that individual investors often earn less than the investments they own. The reason is not always bad fund selection. Often, it is bad timing.

Investors tend to buy after markets have already risen, sell after markets have already fallen, chase recent performance, abandon sound strategies too early, or become overly confident after a short period of success.

DALBAR’s 2025 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior reported that the average equity investor earned 16.54% in 2024, compared with the S&P 500’s 25.02% return, meaning investors captured far less than the market delivered that year.

Morningstar’s Mind the Gap 2024 research reached a similar conclusion from a different angle. Morningstar estimated that the average dollar invested lagged the average fund’s total return by about 1.1% per year over the 10-year study period, largely because of poorly timed purchases and sales.

In other words, the problem is often not the market.

The problem is the investor’s behavior inside the market.

DIY Investors Often Want Confirmation, Not Advice

In our experience, many do-it-yourself investors are not actually looking for comprehensive advice. They are looking for confirmation.

They want to know whether their portfolio looks “okay.” They want a second opinion after making the decision themselves. They want reassurance that the fund, stock, annuity, newsletter, strategy, or internet idea they found is the right one.

That is understandable. Managing your own retirement assets can be stressful. When your financial future depends on decisions you are making alone, doubt naturally creeps in.

This is why many DIY investors continue to move through the free dinner, lunch seminar, webinar, and second-opinion circuit. They may not be ready to delegate. They may not be ready to follow a coordinated plan. But they still want someone to tell them they are on the right track.

That is not the relationship our firm is designed to provide.

We are not here to rubber-stamp decisions that were already made elsewhere. We are not here to compete with internet forums, financial television, or product sales presentations. We are here to build and manage retirement strategies for clients who want an ongoing professional relationship.

Retirement Planning Is Not a Hobby

Investing can be a hobby.

Retirement planning should not be.

A hobbyist investor may enjoy researching funds, watching markets, comparing opinions, and making tactical changes. There is nothing wrong with that if the money involved is truly discretionary.

But retirement assets are different.

For many families, retirement savings represent decades of work. These assets must support income, taxes, inflation, healthcare costs, market volatility, surviving spouses, legacy goals, and unexpected life events.

That requires more than investment selection.

It requires a plan.

Vanguard’s Advisor’s Alpha research has long argued that advisors may add value through planning, asset allocation, tax-aware implementation, withdrawal strategy, rebalancing, and especially behavioral coaching. Vanguard describes behavioral coaching as one of the greatest potential sources of advisor value because it helps clients stay committed to a long-term plan during difficult markets.

That is a very different relationship than simply asking, “What do you think of this fund?”

The Part Nobody Likes to Say Out Loud

There is also an industry truth that rarely gets discussed publicly:

DIY investors can make our job easier for the clients who do work with us.

Markets are made up of participants. Some are disciplined. Some are emotional. Some are patient. Some are reactive. Some follow a plan. Others chase whatever worked most recently.

When investors consistently buy high, sell low, panic, chase headlines, or abandon strategies at the wrong time, they create opportunities for disciplined investors who are willing to stay focused.

We do not celebrate anyone’s poor decisions. But we do recognize reality: emotional market behavior is one of the reasons disciplined investing can be rewarded over time.

Our clients hire us to help them avoid becoming the emotional participant on the other side of that trade.

We Are Looking for Alignment

Our best client relationships are built on alignment.

That does not mean clients blindly agree with us. We welcome thoughtful questions. We believe clients should understand what they own, why they own it, and how it fits into their larger retirement plan.

But there is a difference between asking questions and constantly relitigating the plan.

There is a difference between being engaged and being unable to delegate.

There is a difference between wanting education and wanting endless validation.

We work best with people who want a trusted advisor, not a part-time sounding board.

Who We Are Built to Serve

Our firm is built for people who are approaching retirement, recently retired, or already retired and want help turning their assets into a coordinated plan.

That may include investment management, income planning, tax considerations, risk management, beneficiary planning, and ongoing guidance through changing markets and changing life circumstances.

We are not the right fit for everyone.

And that is intentional.

Do-it-yourself investing may work for some people. But for those who want a structured retirement plan, professional accountability, and guidance that goes beyond investment selection, a different kind of relationship is needed.

At CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, we choose to serve clients who are ready for that relationship.

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Want to learn more? Call us at 256-417-4870 or 407-220-1040.

Mike Mickels is the President and Chief Compliance Officer of CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, LLC, and an avid sporting clay competitor. Our firm provides personalized planning and investment services to individuals approaching and in retirement. Disclaimer: This content is intended solely for informational purposes. CochranMickels Retirement Specialists, LLC and its representatives are only authorized to offer advisory services where properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Investing carries risks, including potential loss of principal capital. Our firm does not endorse external links, nor is it responsible for third-party content.