My problem is that as an unskilled person - will I be any better at securing my own system?
Use a password manager, remember a 2nd password for your email yourself, and then use a second factor for as many things as possible. USB keys are best, but anything is better than nothing: SMS, Authy, Google Authenticator, phone call, whatever. Chrome and Safari both have password managers these days, and some Chromebooks even have a builtin second factor. 2FA is still a hassle for sure, but it's getting better all the time.
It's a horrible idea to leave the password for the database sitting next to the admin's workstation. But physical access is a vastly different concern for a corporation than an individual.
Threat surfaces are different for different people. I'd _love_ if my parents kept a separate password notebook instead of an unlocked note on their phone.
2FA is obviously good but different. But a notebook is an entirely offline password manager and it immediately lets people do one of the most important things which is not repeat passwords.
:)
Consider a classic "grandma" solution. A little notebook with good passwords kept in the purse or wallet. The issues here are more knowable than with LastPass or whatever.
> with good passwords
Well, which is it?
In all seriousness though, the two main benefits of password managers are they only autofill on the correct domain and they’ll suggest actually good passwords.
Self hosting can help insulate you from a server side bulk compromise (with adequate security measures in place yourself which, as you say, not everyone will do), but it won't deal with the more pervasive software supply chain issues of compromised development environments etc.