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.
Learn to Speak Pension
Do you know your defined contribution pension from your money purchase pension? Wait – aren’t they the same thing? Here’s a pension primer with a difference, as we tell you what all those confusing terms really mean. Reading about pensions is enough …
Life Insurance: The Ultimate ‘Rainy-Day Fund’
One of the reasons why you might save up is to safeguard your family against misfortune. But a rainy-day fund can only do so much. For a truly adequate level of protection, life insurance is often a better solution – and it’s more versatile than you…
We’re Proud to Be Supporting Talk Money Talk Pensions Week 2019
Talk Money Talk Pensions Week is taking place from 18th – 22nd November 2019 and is the annual event all about getting the public talking about money and pensions. The week is overseen by the Money and Pension Service – a new national body bringing t…
Do You Suffer from Money Tunnel Vision?
Recent research suggests that over half of adults in the South East of England couldn’t pay an unexpected £500 bill. If you’re in this situation despite an apparently healthy income, you may have ‘money tunnel vision’. Here’s how to correct it. ‘Annu…
Self-Employed? Don’t Forget Your Pension
They say ‘Don’t ignore the workplace pension’ – but that’s exactly what many self-employed people are doing. If you are your own boss, saving into a pension is easy to forget about – but if anything, it’s even more important to remember. Thanks to a…
KnowlEDGE Digital Magazine – Autumn 2019
We’ve just published our exclusive quarterly digital magazine for autumn 2019. You can read and download your copy for free. With the heat and sunshine of summer now seeming like a distant memory, we welcome you to the autumn 2019 edition of KnowlEDG…
We’re Supporting Financial Planning Week 2019
We’re delighted to be among a select group of companies taking part in Financial Planning Week 2019. Running from 7th to 11th October 2019, Financial Planning Week is a nationwide campaign offering free financial planning sessions and advice to provi…
Are You Doing the 11 Worst Things for Your Credit Score?
Most of us know roughly what a credit score or credit rating is – it’s a number that goes up or down depending to what we’ve done in the past and present with money, especially when it comes to loans and credit cards. Typically, a high number is good…
Apathy Costing Savers over £800m a Year
As banks continue to ‘reward’ their most loyal customers by slashing their savings rates, more products are emerging to enable savers to chase higher interest with less effort. The UK’s savers have missed out on nearly a billion pounds worth of inter…
How Small Savings Could Help You Build Your ‘Emergency Fund’
Do you tend to count the days until payday? If so, you may need to take better control over your spending and saving. Ideally, you should always have enough of a financial cushion to deal with the extra expenses that life will definitely throw at you…
Over £19 Billion ‘Lost’ in Forgotten UK Pensions
UK workers have lost track of up to 1.6 million workplace pension pots, according to the latest estimates. A lack of understanding of how to manage pension savings could result in many people being substantially worse off in retirement. Failure to ke…
10 Investment Goals to Aim for and How to Achieve Them
If you want to be a successful investor, there’s one question above all that you need to answer. And that is: why am I doing this? Discover how a clear investment goal can make all the difference. Everyone needs a reason to invest. If you don’t have…
Optimist vs Pessimist – What Does It Mean for Your Money?
Is your glass half full or half empty? When managing your money and ensuring your financial security, both optimism and pessimism have key roles to play. Does it matter if you’re an optimist or a pessimist? Optimism is generally considered far more d…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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..
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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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