You’ve heard the commercial “Just give me the Carfax,” right? Shouldn’t there be a “brokerfax”? Rather than putting blind trust in those you pay for advice, find out if your advisor is being held to their fiduciary standard.

Go to adviserinfo.sec.gov and input the financial representative’s name and/or firm, zip code, and press search. The Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website is a search tool that provides information about both SEC-registered and state-registered Investment Adviser (IA) firms and individual IA representatives. Professional background and conduct, current registrations, employment history, current Form ADV, disclosures about specific disciplinary events, and other financial matters are included in a search report.

Isn’t this something you want to know about the person managing your entire life savings? Don’t you want to know if they’ve had any client complaints or felony convictions?