Do your homework............

Choosing a financial advisor for you and your family? It may be the biggest decision you will ever make. How can you find a qualified, trustworthy financial advisor who will provide world class advice? For starters you can call Chippewa Partners, all kidding aside. Chippewa Partners is a fiduciary. A Registered Investment Advisor. We sell nothing. We pimp no product. We are not employees of some brokerage firm that pushes huge commissions and fees and slack investment products on unsuspecting clients.

You can also log onto www.nasd.com and use the free NASD BrokerCheck service if you want a salesman or an employee of a brokerage firm to give you advice on your retirement money or serious wealth. Why people use salesmen instead of fiduciaries is way beyond me but lots do, just check out the number of securites arbitrations filed every year by investors against brokerage firms.

Last week I got a call from an old friend. He asked me how I could check out a broker. I went to work on his behalf, pro bono, au gratis. It is virtually impossible to get any relevant information on a salesman/stockbroker over the NASD web site. The NASD wants it that way. They are the fox guarding the hen house.

If there is any "MAYBE" on your inquiry, stop right there. The problem lies when you attempt to look up a broker who may have had many black marks on their record and they don't show up in your search. As an arbitrator I put black marks on many brokers records. They deserved them. They hurt investors. I know of brokers that have U-5's that look like Swiss cheese they have so many holes in them. Nothing shows up on their records either. The system needs change but it won't come from within. Use your head and your heart. Good luck.