Alanw wrote:I guess I never really thought about younger people growing up with computers and the internet and using these resources for investing and trading the markets. For those of us older posters who did not have computers or the internet for immediate information, we relied on "experts" for our information.
I don't think computers and the internet had much of an effect on DIY except at the margin. They made it easier to learn and do, made it more visible, so a few more people get involved. Of course it looks like a lot, because it is a few added at each of many levels: more people, more workers, more investors, more exposure, more DIY.
The majority of people doing for themselves just like/want/need to learn about and do something(s) for themselves. I and people like me did that before the internet. The learning is easier now.
Before the 'net it was books, magazines, night/community ed classes, clubs, ask a neighbor, etc. That's how my grandfather built his own home, later added indoor plumbing, and wired it three times to first add electricity and then again each time electrical standards changed. That's how I was helping my father do automotive repairs and extensive remodeling including wiring and plumbing since before I was 8 years old. The first "DIY" experience I remember was taking the training wheels off my bicycle. Dad couldn't do it for a few days, Mom didn't know how, so I got the tools and did it myself. It worked great, but Dad did tighten the nuts more, when he got home that night. My Mom says my first DIY experience was when I had been crawling for only a few days. I followed the cord on the vacuum cleaner to the wall and unplugged it. Soon she had to lock me up in a play pen whenever she was vacuuming, ironing, etc. DIY is why I first read about personal computers ca. 1974, and have been building and using them extensively since 1976, and was online a few years later (after I built a 300bps modem).
DIY investment mostly relies on discount brokers cutting costs by cutting services. This was happening long before most people had heard of the 'net. There were many books and magazines on DIY investing published before the 'net was available at home and long before any discount broker had a web page. I know, because I was reading them shortly after my father taught me about compound interest, etc. which was long before I knew multiplication, and then years later I was trying to explain the magic of compound interest to classmates when we learned about percentages in school. My father did not do stocks, so I didn't have any practical experience there until after I left home, but he had me researching the best rate on CDs and moving funds between banks before I got my driver's license at 14. Later I remember driving him around town late on Friday afternoons as he moved the payroll money from the reserve account into the payroll account so it would earn interest in both accounts over the weekend. Researching rates is definitely a lot easier with the 'net instead of making phone calls to or visiting each and every bank!
Most DIY investors also do something else "just for fun/savings" that many if not most people would pay for. Maybe it is gourmet cooking, or maybe flying a plane, or house painting, or whatever. Funny tho, there are a lot of people who either never DIY at all, or are shocked and horrified that someone would DIY {x}.
DIY is more an attitude than anything else. Some don't have it. Some have a little and some have more.
But it does appear to be online, found