Second question/questions what basic investing knowledge should one have or perhaps a better way to ask this question is can you name a few investing courses one could take to be more comfortable investing without the assistance of a financial advisor?
Thanks and seasons greetings to all.
There is no single answer here. If one is utilizing a passive, ETF focused strategy, you could argue a weekly check in on the portfolio of just an hour a week. If you are taking a more active approach but still buy and hold of larger types of names, an hour a day or every other day could be reasonable. If you are more active and looking for outperformance, you could alsospend multiple hours daily on researching current and potential investments. So a lot of it does depend on the general setup to begin with and how much time and effort an investor actually wants to spend. We would argue, however, the larger the portfolio, the more time is likely warranted to be spent on managing it, as mistakes or errors of ommission become increasingly costly at higher portfolio values. But in many cases, it doesn't need to become a 'full-time job' for DIY investors.
On the second question, our answer would be somewhat similar. If taking a more passive approach, things can be done relatively hands-off but having a basic/intermediate understanding of taxation and the different types of tax-advantaged accounts will probably go a long way. Depending on interest and time one actually wants to spend, there are various books that could be utilized or even more formal coourses offered by CSI but this is also likely not 'required' for many. A lot of learning also happens just by 'doing' over time.
One approach could be to open up a smaller account at a DIY brokerage and build out a portfolio there as a bit of a trial run. From there, one can get a feel for what works and doesn't while any mistakes won't be too costly (as it is using a smaller amount of funds vs the entire portfolio).