<prompt> Human: I use a broker. The fee is 1 of investment account. I decided to hire a broker because I just found I didnt feel I had the necessary knowledge about all of the products and diversification to feel comfortable doing this on my own at the scale I wanted to achieve once I paid off my mortgage. I believe I am smart enough to have educated myself, but the time it would have taken to get myself to a high level of knowledge was taking longer than I expected I had other life priorities and I felt it would be nice to work with a professional to learn some things. I have kept my broker even now that I feel I am better prepared because he has put me into investments that pay me more in dividends and interest than I pay him a year and we are meeting my goal of primarily long-term growth. For me, I am certain I have made more money with him than I would have without him. But I will acknowledge that if I had been more willing to spend the time and energy really learning all of the stuff I have learned from books, I could have come close on my own.I am taking this poll because it seems that most people here believe doing it on your own is preferable and I wanted to find out if my assumption was correct.  <response>: No I dont because Im not a fan of wasting my money. 