I think some people can beat ETFs by pick and choose stocks, assuming they know what they are doing and get lucky. For me the biggest problem with this approach

I think some people can beat ETFs by pick and choose stocks, assuming they know what they are doing and get lucky. For me the biggest problem with this approach is that it becomes a job. Maybe not a full time job, but you end up spending non-trivial amount on this. If you really enjoy it then it's OK. But for many people it takes over other important hings in their life (their job, family, etc). You need to decide if it's worth it.