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 financeTo stay up-to-date with the latest news and views from the NorthStar team, why not subscribe to NorthStar Insights, our free email newsletter or check out our social media sites.
KnowlEDGE Digital Magazine – Summer 2019
We’ve just published our exclusive quarterly digital magazine for summer 2019. You can read and download your copy for free. Spring is well and truly here. Warmer days, lighter evening and the new tax year are all now with us.In this edition of Knowl…
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How Your Child Can Retire a Millionaire
For the truly patient parent, there’s a little-known trick for setting your child up for life – later life, that is. A Junior SIPP may offer the most affordable long-term route to a millionaire’s retirement for your daughter or son. Starting a pensio…
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Money and Its Links to Mental Health and Wellbeing
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we take a look into how money can impact mental health. We know that people struggling with money and poor mental health or wellbeing is often linked. According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, half of p…
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What’s the Difference Between Guidance and Advice?
The government service Pension Wise offers free guidance on pension options, but is it the same as ‘advice’? Here’s one way of looking at the difference between advice and guidance. Guidance can help you decide on a course of action. So can advice. D…
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KnowlEDGE Digital Magazine – Spring 2019
We’ve just published our exclusive quarterly digital magazine for spring 2019. You can read and download your copy for free. Spring is well and truly here. Warmer days, lighter evening and the new tax year are all now with us.In this edition of Knowl…
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Pension Contribution Hikes Spell Good News Long-Term
The mandatory minimum contribution into workplace pensions is set to increase in April, as part of the government’s bid to prevent a future pensions crisis. Consequently, millions of workers who are paying the current minimum will see their take-home…
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How Your Ex Might Still Inherit Your Pension
Many people approaching retirement may be unwittingly naming an ex-spouse or ex-partner as their pension beneficiary upon their death. According to a Royal London study, out-of-date paperwork may put current partners at risk of missing out. Over thre..
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Comic Relief Special: What Can TV Comedies Teach Us About Money?
To pay tribute to the incredible fundraising efforts of Comic Relief, we’ve put together a list of money lessons you can learn from classic television comedies. Only Fools and Horses ‘Del Boy’ Trotter was the spoof ‘yuppy’ (young urban professional w…
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Does Cutting Back Boost Your Finances?
A third of households switch to cheaper food at the supermarket to save money, with more than half (53%) of Brits admitting to cutting costs this year. Other popular ways to cut back include using less gas and electricity and spending less on new clo…
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We’re Proud to Be Listed as One of the UK’s Top Rated Financial Advisers for 2019
What is VouchedFor? VouchedFor is the leading independent reviews and ratings website for accountants, solicitors, financial advisers and mortgage brokers. They currently list over 10,000 professionals, and over 40,000 clients have left a review of…
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Who Knows Your PINs and Passwords?
How many people know your password? Further to that, how many other people’s passwords do you know? We don’t even mean the one you use to access your bank – letting someone know your login details could land you in a whole heap of trouble. A Governme…
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Riding the Ups and Downs of Drawdown
Poor stock market performance has hit investments hard over recent months. This can be a real problem if your pension is in a drawdown scheme. Find out how the market might affect your retirement income – and what you can do about it. When you retire…
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Easy Ways to Push Money Matters up Your to Do List
When you’ve got a to-do list as long as your arm, some things are constantly put aside until later, never making it to the top. Well a new survey has found many of those tasks are to do with managing your money. Top of the list by Standard Life …
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Will Your Pension Be Affected by a No-Deal Brexit?
What will happen to pensions when we leave the EU? With the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, there is even more uncertainty over retirement funds. We look at how your pension could be affected – whether you have dreams of retiring abroad or staying i…
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Gig Economy Hides Gigantic Pension Problem
Nearly half of the UK’s self-employed workers may have to rely on just the State Pension in retirement – which a recent report has found to be the ‘least generous’ in the developed world. As the gig economy grows, a potential pensions time bomb is gr…
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How to Spot and Avoid Pension Scams
Pension scams come in lots of shapes and sizes, but they all have the same effect – you lose your life savings. Victims of pension scams on average lost £91,000 each, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Don’t let others enjoy your ret…
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New Year’s Resolutions with Real Solutions
New Year’s resolutions are so hard to keep because eventually you ask yourself, ‘What’s the point?’ Well, we’ll show you what the point is! Check out our top resolutions for 2019 that can make a real measurable difference to your life. Congratulation…
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Dear Santa, for My Retirement I’d Like…
The little ones have Father Christmas. What do we have? We make lists of what we’d like to do when we retire – but the only person who’ll deliver those gifts is us. Better start your tax wrapping now. Being retired is a bit like being a kid again – y
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KnowlEDGE Digital Magazine – Winter 2018
We’ve just published our exclusive quarterly digital magazine for Winter 2018. You can read and download your copy for free. As we move into winter, we take a look at a number of important stories in this issue of KnowlEDGE magazine. Our cover story…
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What This Lottery Winner Can Teach You About Your Pension
A teenager wins a fortune with her first ever lottery scratch card, and must make a life-changing choice. But anyone saving up a pension pot may face a similarly big decision. What would YOU do? If someone offered you a million pounds now, or a thous…
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5 Ways to Talk to Your Children About Money
We know that talking about money isn’t always easy, it can be daunting, particularly if you don’t like speaking about it. However, by getting your children used to talking about money early, you can help them avoid financial issues in the future. Whe…
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Will We Ever See a Pensions Dashboard?
For some time now the government has been promising an online ‘pensions dashboard’ that will let savers view and manage all their pension arrangements in one place. Meanwhile, private pension providers are competing to deliver a similar service to co…
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The 10 Golden Rules to Recession Proof Your Investment Portfolio
When the economy shows signs of slowing down, it is inevitable that share prices will take a hit. A recession is never good news, but there should be no need for investors to panic. Instead, it offers an opportunity to review your portfolio and ensur…
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How Much Do I Need to Save to Retire at 55?
There’s no longer such a thing as ‘retirement age’ – you’re simply free to access most pensions from the age of 55. But what if you actually did want to retire at 55? We take a look at what you’d need to make that dream a reality. There’s an old joke…
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10 Key Takeaways from the Budget 2018
Yesterday saw the Chancellor, Philip Hammond deliver the Budget for 2018. This was the first time since 1962 that the Budget had taken place on a Monday and also the last before we expect to leave the EU in March next year. In this article, we cut th…
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Beware the ‘Vampire Economy’ and Other Financial Frights
Did you know we’re spending more money than ever in the dead of night, boosting what’s been dubbed the ‘vampire economy’? One in three Brits in a survey by Barclaycard reckoned they spend more money shopping online at night than they did five years a…
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We’re Offering Free ‘Talk Money’ Sessions as Part of Talk Money Week 2018
NorthStar Wealth Management is proud to announce their involvement in this year’s Talk Money Week. Launching on Monday 12 November, ‘Talk Money Week’ is the annual celebration of the work thousands of organisations are doing to improve money manageme…
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Why Advice Is Always Time Well Spent
If time were a currency, it would fluctuate more than the pound after the Brexit vote. Getting the most value from your time is all down to how you spend it – and invest it. If you’re curious as to why people seek professional advice, then you need to u…
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Buy-to-Let Tax 2018 – 3 Ways to Cope with Losing Tax Relief
The game has changed for many buy-to-let landlords. From April 2017 the change to buy-to-let tax relief has been phasing in, which could translate into a big loss of profits for many with rental properties. What can you do about it? It used to seem a…
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Ready to Give Yourself a Financial Workout?
September is the new January, with people flocking back to the gym, hoping to get back in shape after overindulging on their holidays. But while the gym bunnies fight over the fitness machines, why not put your finances through their paces from the…
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