Before you invest or pay for any investment advice, make sure your brokers, investment advisers and investment adviser representatives have not had run-ins with regulators or other investors. You also should check to see whether they are registered or licensed.

This is very important, because if you do business with an unregistered securities broker or a firm that later goes out of business, there may be no way for you to recover your money  even if an arbitrator or court rules in your favor.

Most investors-even some professionals-tend to be "off" in their timing, they buy things when they are hot, not when they are cold. But for the greatest benefit, it should be the opposite. The media doesn't help much when it comes to this buying approach, and let's face it; greed and fear play a large part in most peoples' investment decisions.

There are literally thousands of Registered Investment Advisors. Just what do they do-what service do they provide you? They do the legwork; the research and analysis. Maybe more importantly, they keep their primary focus on the markets, and specifically on their specialty area like individual stocks, mutual funds, or bonds.

Because they spend the bulk of their time and energy researching, considering, and analyzing, they naturally have a greater sense of the market and its movements than those of us who don't put this kind of attention into it. So, with the right advisor, you can keep your focus on what you want-like your business or your retirement or whatever-and still get the information you want and need to invest wisely.

To find out about investment advisors and whether they are properly registered, read their registration forms, called the "Form ADV." The Form ADV has two parts. Part 1 has information about the adviser's business and whether they've had problems with regulators or clients. Part 2 outlines the adviser's services, fees and investment strategies. Before you hire an investment adviser, always ask for and carefully read both parts of the ADV.

Here are a few questions to get your started.

• What experience do you have, especially with people in my circumstances?
• Where did you go to school? What is your recent employment history?
• What licenses do you hold? Are you registered with the SEC, a state, or FINRA?
• Are the firm, the clearing firm, and any other related companies that will do business with me members of SIPC?
• What products and services do you offer?
• Can you only recommend a limited number of products or services to me? If so, why?
• How are you paid for your services? What is your usual hourly rate, flat fee, or commission?
• Have you ever been disciplined by any government regulator for unethical or improper conduct or been sued by a client who was not happy with the work you did?
• For registered investment advisers, will you send me a copy of both parts of your Form ADV?

Most large brokerage firms list the Investment Advisors they work with and maintain information about their past performance. This is not a foolproof resource, though, since they tend to recommend the Investment Advisors who invest in their products or clear their business with the firm. So if you pursue this avenue, you need to watch for conflict of interest issues.

An important question to ask is the how the advisor gets compensated. You want to stay away from commission junkies or salesmen disguised as advisors.

To take it one step further, ask if the advisor invests his own money in the same methodology that he recommends for his clients. If he doesn't, ask why. If you don't like the answer, close your check book and run as fast as you can.