This article, by Justin Baiocchi, was originally published in The Northern Daily Leader on 29 January 2017.

This past week I have been busy ‘renovating’ the laundry at home. I’ve put the word renovating in inverted commas as, theoretically what I have been doing is a renovation, but in practice it’s in a category all of its own. When the previous owners added on the laundry extension they stopped after putting in the framework and studs – there were no walls or ceiling and no flooring on the slab. As you can imagine, this became a haven for spiders, bugs, dust, dirt, snakes and who knows what else. I could feel my white business shirts cringe every time I took them into the laundry for a wash. Accidentally dropping a shirt on the floor was enough to make you cry.

Armed with some nails, a hammer and lacking only really a clue about what I was doing, I set about finishing off the laundry. To be honest, looking at the finished article, I wonder why I bothered. I’m not entirely sure I have made an improvement on the dirt, dust and spider heaven. It’s as though you got a builder in to do the work for you, but before he could start you got him drunk and then made him work in the dark. I now have to find a way of convincing my wife that she need not go into the laundry ever again and we’re better off just buying new clothes every time something needs a wash. An expensive solution yes, but better than letting her see my unhandiwork in the laundry.

As I stood there and reluctantly viewed my ‘renovation’ job, it occurred to me that my attempt to finish the laundry was not unlike the approach that many people adopt to looking after their finances. Just because I had the tools to tackle the laundry (the hammer and nails), didn’t mean I had the knowledge how to use those tools to do the job at hand. In the same manner, the ability exists for you to manage your own investments and finances – the tools are there, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily know how to use them. In the wrong hands, an online stockbroking account can be more dangerous than a badly wielded hammer (and I saw a lot of that during the past week, and felt it in my thumbs too). The convenient and cheaper approach of doing it yourself is not always best. Getting professional assistance may be more costly, but the outcome usually more than justifies the cost. Ask yourself if you realistically have the skills required; and if you don’t, get some help. A badly managed retirement plan is much more serious than a badly mangled renovation job.