Most advisors don’t have lengthy agreements and you usually can cancel by giving 2 weeks notice. The advisor never has access to your money because he is affiliated with a custodian who handles money, monthly statements and fulfills proper legal reporting requirements.

With this arrangement an advisor can actually save you money. How?

1. The advisor will use only no load funds. Because of his affiliation with a custodian (often a major brokerage firm), he’ll have access to some 10,000 mutual funds, not just to one or two fund families as most commissioned brokers do. This allows him to pick best available, which potentially means a higher return for his clients.

2. At times there are superior load funds available, especially in international arena. I have used a couple of those in my own practice because they were available to me as “load waived funds” and my clients got advantage without paying a sales commission.

3. Custodians many times also offer “Advisor only” funds. These are usually high performing mutual funds where fund family wishes, for whatever reason, to deal only with investment professionals, so they set high minimum dollar requirements.

Such was case in my practice during our most recent buy signal (4/29/03). I purchased NAMCX fund, which was only available to advisors through my custodian. This fund rewarded us with a cool 47% over following five months. Most independent investors would not have had access to such a fund on their own.

Keep in mind that markets fluctuate and starting with an advisor in middle of a downturn will not likely yield high profits at first. However, over time, an advisor will most likely produce results better than what you would reasonably expect yourself to do, even with advisor's modest fee.

Choosing right advisor and watching how your portfolio performs with their advice will almost always prove that it doesn't cost you to have an investment advisor, it pays.

In my no-load mutual fund practice I use specific recommendations, even for my free newsletter subscribers. They are first based on my trend tracking indicator giving us green light and secondarily on selection of mutual funds based on momentum analysis.

The more specific recommendations, better, because that allows you to follow along either just on paper (which you should do at first) or with your actual portfolio.

5. Are they recommending when to sell a mutual fund either because of gains or to limit your losses? This to me is most important issue. If there is no plan in place for getting out, how will you ever know when to sell? This has been greatest downfall of most publishers (and investors!) since bear market of 2000 — not selling even if market conditions dictate it would be in your best interest to do so.

The advice of most newsletter services can make you money in bull markets. However, with continuation of bear market still a distinct possibility; be sure to look at any newsletter's investment advice record since 2000.

For many people investing is an emotional issue. The pendulum swings between fear of loss and greed for greater returns. If a complete methodology for buying and selling is offered in a newsletter, such as one I advocate, be sure that it fits your emotional make up.

There is no sense in following an investment approach, which may have merits, if it means sleepless nights for you. You won’t stick with it for long term — and long-term investing is essential for making your portfolio grow and prosper.

So, bottom line is to look for a newsletter that: • does not promise moon, • has a track record through up and down markets, and • recommends an approach that not only is compatible for your investment style but also has an exit strategy so you can capitalize on your gains -- in bank, not only on paper.

Following these guidelines may not make you rich, but it will help you avoid some bad advice.