You’re smart. You’re successful. Otherwise you wouldn’t have money to invest. So shouldn’t you handle your own investments? Investment success isn’t about skill. It’s about behavior. Consider this example. When you ask people if they are better than-average drivers, almost everyone will tell you yes, despite what their driving records say. The same is true for investing. Most people are overconfident in their ability to invest successfully. It stems from the tendency of human beings to think we’re smarter or more able than we are. We want to believe we’re different from everyone else.

After all, good investing only requires common sense, right? Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the mathematical trader, points out in Fooled by Randomness that,

“It is a fact that our brain tends to go for the superficial clues when it comes to risk and probability, these clues being largely determined by what emotions they elicit or the ease with which they come to mind. In addition to such problems with the perception of risk, it is also a scientific fact, and a shocking one, that both risk detection and risk avoidance are not mediated in the thinking part of the brain but largely in the emotion one (the risk as feelings theory).”

It’s not about common sense or whether you’re smart enough. It’s about behavior and our tendency to allow emotion to affect that behavior.  You’re not stupid for letting someone else handle your investments. In fact, it may be the smartest decision you ever make.