Definition of "self-directed" [self-directed]

• Directed or guided by oneself, especially as an independent agent: the self-directed study of a language. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "E*Trade credits its success to its focus on what it calls self-directed investors—search-and-browsers."
• "Next As investors are putting their retirement savings into so-called self-directed individual retirement accounts, complaints about fraud in these accounts are on the rise, securities regulators say, and investors should carefully consider the risks."
• "“He vould prefer to call it self-directed, I think.”"