NorthStar Blog
Welcome to the NorthStar Blog. The place for the latest news, information and opinion from the NorthStar team helping you stay on top of what's going on in the world of finance.
Get a Taste of Healthy Investing
Just as an athlete needs a balanced diet to achieve peak fitness, you need balance in your investments. Here’s a quick digest of the different financial food groups, along with tips for combining them into your ideal money-building diet. Healthy livi…
Six Steps to Paying Less Inheritance Tax
Inheritance tax (IHT) was traditionally regarded as a tax only for the very wealthy. However, with a threshold of £325,000 (£650,000 for married couples and civil partners) that will remain frozen until 2021, and the price of houses still relatively…
Hope I Save Before I Get Old…
Financial advice might be the new rock’n’roll. Younger adults are smashing up the stereotype by being more financially astute and forward thinking than their elders. Could this be a fightback from Generation Austerity? They say that age brings wisdom…
KnowlEDGE Digital Magazine – Summer 2017
We’ve just published our exclusive quarterly digital magazine for Summer 2017. You can read and download your copy for free. With the British summertime upon us, it really is a very warm welcome to this edition of KnowlEDGE Magazine. In this issue we…
Solve Your Mortgage Maze
We’re well into ‘mortgage season’ – the peak time of year for buying a property with fierce competition for the best houses. Whether you’re racing to secure your dream home, or simply struggling with a mortgage-related puzzle, it pays to keep these t…
Annuities vs Drawdown – the Big Fight!
In the blue corner, the long-reigning champion of retirement planning: the annuity! In the red corner, the challenger for the pension freedom crown: drawdown! But which is better? There’s only one way to find out. Some people enjoy a flutter now and…
Will the Lifetime ISA Help You Buy Your First Home?
There’s a new ISA in town: the Lifetime ISA (or LISA). Designed to help both first-time buyers and people saving for retirement, it’s certainly an ambitious idea – but does it deliver, and what are the drawbacks? Let’s take a look at this ISA’s finer…
The Ten Most Important Money Lessons to Teach Your Kids
As parents, the most important things we can do are to keep our kids safe and educate them. Among the many things kids have to learn, few are more important than money. Whether we like it or not, money plays a pivotal and central role in all our live…
We’re Offering Free Money Management Sessions as Part of Financial Planning Week
We’re delighted to be among a select group of companies taking part in Financial Planning Week 2017. Running from 8th to 12th May, the annual Financial Planning Week is a national campaign to help engage people with their money and raise awareness of…
Your Keys to the Best Mortgage Deal
Some mortgages seem to give with one hand, while taking away with the other. Here’s how to get past all the sleight-of-hand and find out which is really the best...
Government Launches New £1,500 Tax-Free Pension Allowance
First talked about in the Autumn Statement last year, this April sees the introduction of a brand new tax break from the government. The ‘Pension Advice Allowance’ is the government’s way of trying to get more people taking financial advice on their…
Look After Your Nest Egg This Easter
The problem with chocolate eggs is that they never last long. So with springtime bringing the new tax year, there’s no better time to hatch some long-term plans for making your savings grow. Here’s a little-known fact: the UK is unique among the majo…
Nine Signs You Need a Financial MOT
What’s that rattling sound? Every driver knows the feeling. But in this case, it’s your money rattling around in forgotten corners, losing value. Maybe it’s time for your financial MOT. If something is important, you give it regular maintenance. So, j…
What Would You Do If You Could See the Future?
If any of us could reliably and definitively predict the future, they would have little need for the services of a financial planner; probably having won the lottery many times over and be as financially secure as anyone could be. Of course, it’s imp…
Why Now Just Might Be the Time to Re-Mortgage
Don’t think of your mortgage as a one-off purchase, but as an ongoing process that may need careful maintenance. Many homebuyers need to re-mortgage regularly in order to keep their loan affordable – do you? A client of ours is a mechanic with the RA…
NorthStar’s 12-Month Investment Results Are In
One of the key services we provide our clients is investment management. As well as helping our clients protect the wealth they have already accumulated, it’s also crucial to help them grow their wealth over time. nWe have developed a unique investme…
KnowlEDGE Digital Magazine – Spring 2017
We’ve just published our exclusive quarterly digital magazine for Spring 2017. You can read and download your copy for free from our website. Spring has (almost) sprung, the days are getting ever longer and we’re looking ahead to a great year in 2017…
Is It Time to Ditch Your Cash ISA?
Since their introduction in 1999, the Individual Savings Account (ISA) has been a huge success. Replacing the ‘Personal Equity Plan (PEP) and Tax-Exempt Special Savings Account (TESSA), in essence, an ISA is a tax-free savings and investment plan all…
Feel the Love – Nine Ways to Stop Arguing About Money with Your Partner
Love is in the air as we celebrate Valentine’s Day once again. Romantic gestures are being seen throughout the land and we’re busy spending on those most special to us. The latest data show that men spend an average of £35 on their partner and women…
Three Great Reasons to Start a Pension for Your Child
When you say the word ‘pension’ to most people they see it as something to worry about in the middle age. Who wants to be thinking about getting old and what retirement might look like when you’re young? The problem is that for most people, by the ti…
7 Reasons to Consider Trading in Your Final Salary Pension
The world of pensions is ever-changing. Rules of thumb that many people took for granted may no longer apply. This could well apply to final salary pension schemes and some questions are now being asked about whether they remain the ‘gold-plated’ opt…
Insulate Your Money This Winter
Did you know that we lose most of our savings through our heads? That’s right – because we don’t think about how much unnecessary tax we’re paying. Here are some ways to make sure your money is wrapped up tight, to keep out those (over) draughts. If your …
A Financial Plan for James Bond
Watching the latest James Bond movie recently got us thinking – what if James was our client? How would we advise him and what kind of financial plan would we put together to help him achieve his goals? While Mr. Bond was risking his life for Queen and cou…
6 Smart Ways to Manage Your Spending
Do you open bank statements with a sense of dread? Or can you often guess the balance to within a few pounds? If you’re thinking about taking financial advice, then prepare to know your spending habits like the back of your hand. Here’s how.…
10 Simple Financial New Year’s Resolutions
As the end of another year approaches, we start looking forward to what 2017 will bring. Many of us (around 26% according to surveys) will be making a new year’s resolution and most of us that do (around 88%) will never carry them through. Many people do …
The Hidden Message in the Autumn Statement
The Autumn Statement from Philip Hammond set out the Treasury’s plans to prepare the UK economy for the challenges of Brexit. We go through the Chancellor’s key announcements to tease out the underlying message he sent to workers, savers and pensioners. I…
The Money Confidence Illusion
How confident are you at managing your own money? Moderately? Very? That’s good, you might think. But here’s the sting: overconfidence in one’s own judgement is the biggest cause of costly mistakes – and it’s all down to something called the Dunning-Kruger…
I’ve Got the Power (of Attorney)
If you become unable to manage your own affairs, perhaps through illness, accident or simply old age, who will manage them for you? And will your family even be able to access your money? At any age or stage of life, it’s worth setting up Lasting Power of …
Are You Ready for the Savings Crunch?
Years ago we had the credit crunch – will the savings crunch be next? A double-whammy of low interest rates coupled with inflation could cause your ‘safe’ cash savings to erode. Maybe it’s time to look at some alternative strategies. The traditional ‘hier…
8 Investment Strategies for Beginners
Everyone hopes to save if they can, but not so many of us feel ready to invest. You may think investment seems a bit too close to gambling to be worth the risk. However, if you go about it in the right way, investing doesn’t have to be a scary prospect. T…
Awards, Accreditations & Trade Associations
NorthStar is proud to be a member of the leading financial planning trade associations. Through a continued commitment to adhere to the highest professional standards and deliver exceptional service, NorthStar has received a number of awards and professional accreditations.
