File own returns or use preparer?

Hi All
I'm a newcomer here on this forum.  Been living as a US citizen in the UK almost 20 years and doing my US returns myself.  As time has gone on though, I have started to make more errors. Most recently such as:
*Didn't realise I should have filed FATCA a couple of years ago as my DC pension should be counted along with foreign accounts in the totals which exceeded the trigger point for filing this. not sure how complicated this is
*For the abovementioned DC pension forgot to include this on my FBARs over the past 6 years
*Started making mistakes on the USA tax forms (since they have been redesigned) where I got the math wrong on the form 1116 which caused me 3 or 4 letters back and forth with the IRS, and still waiting for their response (fingers crossed all OK and no tax owed)
Plus now I will be looking into what I can invest in since I got a letter that Schwab doesn't allow ETF any investments more, so will need to correctly reflect whatever I invest in in my returns.
Part of my problem may be that I have been doing these taxes manually instead of electronic/online. But for some reason I could never register properly for this.
So given the above I am considering paying for a tax preparer (looks like a £500-£600 expense).  Note this price would not include correcting FBARs (which I think is fairly straightforward) or fixing my FATCA/8934 resubmissions for the past few years. That would greatly increase the fees. So I will plan on trying to do that that myself and then start with a clean slate for this year's taxes.
Those of you who might be in a similar situation or have faced this...in your view is it worth paying for these services? Or should I get my courage/conficence up and try to do this myself? In future I'll definitely stay more linked into great forums like this so I can better know what to look out for :-)
Thanks for your views

Hi All
I'm a newcomer here on this forum.  Been living as a US citizen in the UK almost 20 years and doing my US returns myself.  As time has gone on though, I have started to make more errors. Most recently such as:
*Didn't realise I should have filed FATCA a couple of years ago as my DC pension should be counted along with foreign accounts in the totals which exceeded the trigger point for filing this. not sure how complicated this is
*For the abovementioned DC pension forgot to include this on my FBARs over the past 6 years
*Started making mistakes on the USA tax forms (since they have been redesigned) where I got the math wrong on the form 1116 which caused me 3 or 4 letters back and forth with the IRS, and still waiting for their response (fingers crossed all OK and no tax owed)
Plus now I will be looking into what I can invest in since I got a letter that Schwab doesn't allow ETF any investments more, so will need to correctly reflect whatever I invest in in my returns.
Part of my problem may be that I have been doing these taxes manually instead of electronic/online. But for some reason I could never register properly for this.
So given the above I am considering paying for a tax preparer (looks like a £500-£600 expense).  Note this price would not include correcting FBARs (which I think is fairly straightforward) or fixing my FATCA/8934 resubmissions for the past few years. That would greatly increase the fees. So I will plan on trying to do that that myself and then start with a clean slate for this year's taxes.
Those of you who might be in a similar situation or have faced this...in your view is it worth paying for these services? Or should I get my courage/conficence up and try to do this myself? In future I'll definitely stay more linked into great forums like this so I can better know what to look out for :-)
Thanks for your views

Hi Jack.

You might want to consider paying for someone the first year just to get yourself back on the right track, with view to going it alone in subsequent years once you have a guide to follow. That was my plan, however when it came to it, I just kept using the preparer. I find the peace of mind and luxury of having US taxes done is worth every penny.  It's probably my biggest indulgence!

Make sure you use someone good though, they are not all created equal!

Hi Larrabee

Thanks for sharing your experience. That sounds like a good strategy. I just heard back from the IRS today that my 1116 problem is sorted out so feeling happy about that.  I like the idea of not having to worry about it and having someone else who knows these topics look after it for me. 

Jack,

I replied to your personal message referring you to the accountant I use in the States who is very familiar with all this, very reasonable, and got me out of a worse mess than you with no penalties and I even got refund on one year after resubmitting.

He is very familiar with handling UK pensions as well.

It's all sortable - don't stress.

A