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[progree]

9. I buy mutual funds and ETFs, almost all index funds, because very few professional

active fund managers can beat them over the long term. If someone who is paid big money to pick stocks can't beat an index fund, what chance do I have?

Also I don't like individual stocks because they are far more volatile than mutual funds / ETFs, managed or passive (mutual funds and ETFs, being a grouping of 30 or more stocks typically, are less volatile because of the law of averages). The funds are plenty volatile as it is, I don't need or want a lot of financial excitement in my life, nor do I want a lot of extra book-keeping.

Edited to add: and with a broad-based index fund, S&P 500 index fund or total stock market index fund as examples, buy and hold is recommended way to go because so few people are good at timing the market. So the recommended course is also the easiest course, and most tax efficient, and the one that is free of cognitive biases and errors.

On the other hand, buy and hold is not a good strategy for most individual stocks, so it's a pain in the ass after awhile to closely watch each company. And making a bunch of buy and sell decisions is likely not to turn out well for most people due to emotional and cognitive biases.