“Don't bother. The professionals are better than you and they know something you don't.”

Really?

There's some truth to that, but there's plenty of lies mixed in that short statement too.

And it's easy to dismiss yourself or come up with excuses for why you can't do it.

Here are five to get things started.

5 Common Excuses that Investors Believe 

Sure there' some validity to each excuse above. But investing is unique because anyone can be a good investor.

The Uniqueness of the Stock Market

Outside of the stock market, it's a good idea to find a professional to solve a problem instead of trying to do it yourself or asking the average Joe next door.

Need a kidney transplant, find a surgeon. Not Ms Traci, your old biology teacher.

But the investment industry is one of the very few where you don't need any qualification, practice, skill or even knowledge to be involved in the markets.

The entry criteria is zero which is why so many people lose money, throw their hands in the air and forever condemn the stock market as a rigged gambling machine.

But choose your direction wisely from the get go (value investing for you and me), build a good framework based on good guidance, quality investment books and investing resources, and it's easy to do well.

Ignore all the talking heads using jargon or the people who talk about much money they are raking in.

All they want to do is make you feel dumb and gloat about how smart they are.

But what if you continue to disbelieve, or you know people who continue to doubt that investing successfully on your own is possible?

You don't need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ. – Warren Buffett