[csense]

Have you considered just keeping some fraction of your assets in cash (CD, money market account, treasury bonds)?

If you have 50% of your money in a Treasury and 50% in S&P, then when the market loses half its value, you only lose 25% of your money. But when the market goes up, you get a smaller gain.

> I don't do my own amateur lawyering, so why would I do my own money management?

An actual lawyer will generally be much better at lawyering than someone without training. Financial professionals probably aren't going to do much better than someone without training.

And then there are rampant perverse incentives in this industry, i.e. financial professionals are too often paid when they sell you financial products you don't need, and aren't paid based on your portfolio's performance.