> Invested a little saved and since then made a decent return, better than if that money was in a bank. So far, I'm doing better than the large-company mutual funds after 3 years, but as I've been reading, that's probably good luck.

The only thing you should be comparing yourself against is the s&p500, if you haven't beaten that, then you're down.

Also, the markets have been in an unprecedented bull run. Everything you've learned will be useless once the tide turns