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While some DIY investors are happy to be hands-on with their portfolio, others dip in only when rattled by the markets — and that's not the only sign it may be time to delegate those decisions.
By
Sevasti Balafas, CFA, CPWA®
published
5 March 2026
in Features
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Successful professionals are accustomed to being self-reliant. They have built strong careers by navigating complexity, exercising judgment under uncertainty and taking responsibility for outcomes.
So, naturally, when it comes to investing, managing one's own portfolio makes perfect sense. For do-it-yourself investors who follow markets closely and consistently remain hands-on, it can be both effective and personally rewarding.
However, as career, family and other competing personal demands accumulate, managing an investment portfolio is often pushed lower on the to-do list.
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Sign upOver time, this gap between intention and execution can become meaningful. Cash balances in an investment account tend to rise with deferred decision-making. Or investment moves are made reactively during periods of negative news headlines and market stress, rather than as part of a deliberate strategy.
Headlines and market behavior
The financial markets in 2025 offered a useful illustration of this dynamic. Throughout the year, investors faced persistent concerns around inflation, slowing growth, geopolitical uncertainty and the path of monetary policy.
For many, these signals reinforced the impulse to reduce risk or move money to the sidelines.
At the same time, corporate earnings remained resilient and equity markets climbed. Investors who responded primarily to headlines often found themselves holding excess cash during a period when markets rewarded discipline and long-term positioning rather than short-term caution.
About Adviser Intel
The author of this article is a participant in Kiplinger's Adviser Intel program, a curated network of trusted financial professionals who share expert insights on wealth building and preservation. Contributors, including fiduciary financial planners, wealth managers, CEOs and attorneys, provide actionable advice about retirement planning, estate planning, tax strategies and more. Experts are invited to contribute and do not pay to be included, so you can trust their advice is honest and valuable.
The disconnect was instructive: Markets do not require economic certainty to perform well, and unsettling narratives do not necessarily translate into poor investment outcomes.
For many DIY investors, the experience of 2025 was not a failure of judgment, but a reminder that staying invested through complexity requires more time, context and discipline than intermittent oversight allows.
For investors without the time or structure to assess these nuances consistently, retreating to cash proved costly.
Cash is not a neutral position
Elevated cash balances are more often the result of delayed decision-making than of intentional risk management. Cash can feel like a prudent interim solution, particularly during periods of heightened uncertainty.
Over time, however, it becomes an active portfolio choice with its own consequences. Excess cash may reduce short-term volatility, but it can meaningfully detract from long-term results.
As 2025 demonstrated, waiting for ideal conditions can lead to missed opportunities, especially when markets move higher despite unresolved macroeconomic concerns.
Investing requires continuity, not intermittent focus
Market expectations around interest rates, inflation, earnings and liquidity evolve continuously. And such shifts are often reflected in asset prices well before they become evident in financial headlines.
For investors who intermittently engage with their portfolios, markets can often move ahead of their decision-making process, making it ineffective.
Portfolio construction, risk management and rebalancing require ongoing attention, as outcomes depend more on consistency across market cycles than on stand-alone decisions.
Portfolio management is an unemotional, integrated discipline
A successful outcome depends on how any singular investment interrelates within the broader portfolio. Diversification, correlations, tax efficiency, liquidity planning and rebalancing discipline all play a critical role.
Without an integrated framework, portfolios tend to evolve in an uncoordinated manner, gradually accumulating unintended exposures.
Even experienced investors are not immune to emotional decision-making, particularly during periods of volatility. When investing is managed intermittently, reactions to market stress can exert an outsized influence on portfolio decisions.
Delegating investment management does not eliminate market risk, but it can introduce structure and discipline that help limit emotionally driven actions.
Remember early 2020? Markets fell 35%, and the global economy appeared to be in freefall. Having an adviser to provide perspective during extreme events can be invaluable in preventing rash decisions that crystallize temporary losses into permanent ones.
Looking for expert tips to grow and preserve your wealth? Sign up for Adviser Intel, our free, twice-weekly newsletter.
For investors whose time is limited, professional oversight can also provide a more holistic perspective that aligns investment decisions with broader financial objectives and constraints.
Signs it might be time to delegate:
- Investment oversight competes with professional and personal priorities
- Market stress prompts reactive changes rather than disciplined responses
- You're not sure if your portfolio still aligns with long-term financial goals or current circumstances
- Rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting are recognized as important, but rarely executed
- Cash balances remain higher than intended
Final thought
Delegating investment management is not appropriate for everyone. Some individuals derive genuine satisfaction from managing their own portfolios and are willing to devote the time required to do so thoughtfully and consistently. For those investors, staying hands-on remains a suitable choice.
For others, the question is rarely whether they are capable of managing their own investments, but whether doing so aligns with how they allocate their time, attention and expertise.
The markets in 2025 reinforced the idea that reacting to headlines and managing portfolios intermittently can quietly undermine long-term objectives, even for thoughtful investors.
Delegating investment decisions can be a rational way to introduce consistency, reduce the influence of emotion and ensure that portfolios are managed with discipline, all while getting it permanently off the to-do list.
Related Content
- What Your Portfolio Says About You – and Your Relationship with Risk
- 5 Moves to Ensure the Markets Work Hard for You in 2026
- Markets Roller Coaster: Resist the Urge to Make Big Changes
- The Snake Bite Effect: How Fear Can Cost Investors Dearly
- Don't Let Your Equity Compensation Trip You Up: A Financial Expert's Guide
This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.
TOPICS Adviser Intel Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — freeContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Sevasti Balafas, CFA, CPWA®Social Links NavigationCEO, GoalVest AdvisorySevasti Balafas is the CEO and Founder of GoalVest Advisory, a New York City-based wealth management firm with over $700 million of assets under management. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, she is a seasoned wealth advisor specializing in creating tailored portfolios for high-net-worth individuals. Ms. Balafas is passionate about financial empowerment, offering sophisticated investment strategies and personalized solutions that allow her clients to reach their financial potential.
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