The Internet has changed the way we live our lives. Not long ago, purchasing stock was not as easy as it is now. The order went through a complex network of brokers and specialists before the execution was completed. In 1983, that all changed when a dentist in Michigan made the first online stock transaction using a system developed by what is now E*TRADE.

Online brokers and easy access to financial data make investing your money as simple as starting a savings account. But in an Internet-driven, do-it-yourself world, is investing also a do-it-yourself activity?

If so, why not just fire your financial advisor, pay fewer fees to your mutual funds, and set up a portfolio of your own? We look at some of the basics of managing…