NorthStar Capital AdvisorsNorthStar Capital AdvisorsNorthStar Capital AdvisorsNorthStar Capital Advisors
Start Here
  • How We Help
  • Who We Serve
  • Who We Are
  • Fiduciary
  • Learning
  • Start Here
  • How We Help
  • Who We Serve
  • Who We Are
  • Fiduciary
  • Learning
  • Start Here

What if “the other guy” wins?

  • October 21, 2020/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Fiduciary, Seeking Prudent Advice
As the election draws near, we’ve been fielding a lot of questions about what will happen if “the other guy” wins. We made this short video talking through what you need to know.

You can watch it here.

 

Click to watch it here.


Practical advice (and Frodo’s lesson)

  • April 16, 2020/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Behavior, Best Practices, Economy, Fiduciary, Live Well, Personal Finance
Nerd alert ahead. Practical tips to follow.

I think it’s safe to say that 2020 is not turning out like any of us expected or hoped. When difficult times are upon us, it’s the most human thing of all to wish it had all happened differently (or to someone else).

There’s a quote from the last Mullis family movie night that sums up the feeling pretty well.

In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Frodo (the unlikely hero) must lead a small group to overcome an extraordinary threat to the world (sound familiar?).

When he despairs of the dangerous journey ahead of him, Gandalf (the wise wizard) responds with a valuable lesson:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”


Click to view
I feel like Frodo some days. Wishing I didn’t live in such times. Do you?

But here we are. All we can do is decide what to do with what we can control.

We are in uncharted waters and it’s increasingly clear that this is an economic downturn that could rival the Great Recession in its severity.

I don’t say this to be alarmist, but to share the information we’re using to plan for our clients and help you use it effectively. The labor market is giving us a near real-time view of how the coronavirus is affecting the economy, and we can see that more disruption is likely as businesses lay off workers.


Behind each point in this chart are actual people who have lost their jobs or seen their income cut dramatically. Like the folks at The Crunkleton who make the best Old Fashioned in Charlotte, and the owner of the lovely hotel we stay at in Honolulu when we visit old friends in Hawai’i, and the workers on the production line at Carrier Corp. manufacturing heating and air conditioning equipment here in Charlotte.

They’re all real people facing income shortfalls and dreams deferred. While the shutdown is necessary to stem the tide of infection, it’s really going to hurt.

Fortunately, there are signs that coronavirus-related legislation (like the CARES Act) will help blunt the worst effects by giving support where it’s needed. And I think it’s likely that further aid will follow once policymakers see the depth and breadth of the economic damage.1

Now on to the practical advice you can use (and share) right now.

More layoffs and furloughs are coming. If you think you might lose your job or face a reduction in income in your family, let’s plan ahead for it and revisit your emergency funds and cash flow. The CARES Act opened up some additional options that we can discuss together.

RMDs have been waived for 2020. If you don’t need the cash this year, consider skipping the distribution or turning it into a Roth Conversion. If you already took some or all of your 2020 RMD after February 1st, you may be able to return it to your account as a rollover through July 15th (as long as you didn’t complete another rollover within the last 12 months).2 There’s some fine print to this, so please reach out if you’d like guidance.

Tax and IRA contribution deadlines have been extended to July 15th. The IRS extended the 2019 tax filing deadline for any taxpayer who had to file by April 15th. The extension also covers 2019 IRA contributions.3 Very important: if you’ll be making a last-minute 2019 contribution on your own, make sure the check or deposit is clearly marked 2019 to avoid an administrative error.

Stimulus checks will start arriving soon. If you had direct deposit information on your last tax filing, the IRS should send your check to your account. If you didn’t (or the account is closed), the check would go to the address the IRS has on file for you.

Small business owners should act fast on loans. The Paycheck Protection Program is offering forgivable, collateral-free loans through June 30, but the money is going quickly. SBA Express Loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans are also options to consider.4 Though it’s not yet clear how long it will take to actually receive the loan funds, it’s smart to get your paperwork together and file quickly. Please reach out if you need help reviewing your options.

Some student loans can be deferred. Under the CARES Act, no payments are due on federally held loans through September 30th, and no interest will accrue. Unfortunately, private student loans (or those held by a lender other than the Department of Education) are not currently eligible.5 Very important: we’re seeing mixed information on whether payments will pause automatically, so check in with your servicer.

You could get more from Medicare. Medicare has made some important updates to its coverage due to the crisis. Telehealth benefits are expanded, so you may be able to see your doctors over the phone or online. Many plans have relaxed their definition of “in-network” providers, so it’s worth checking with your plan. Part D recipients can now request 90-day supplies of medication instead of the usual 30-day supply to help avoid trips to the pharmacy.6

We can’t control what happens next, but we can control some things: our choices, our behavior, and our mindset.

I’m no Gandalf, but I hope we can help lighten your load in these troubling times. I don’t know what the coming weeks and months will bring, but I do know this: we’re in it together. And we’ll get through it together.

If you’d like help acting on any of the tips above, or just want to talk through some strategic moves, please reach out. We’re here.

Be well,
Chris

 

Chris Mullis, Ph.D.
Founding Partner
NorthStar Capital Advisors

Financial Planning.
Wealth Management.
Since 2006

AskNorthStar.com
(704) 350-5028

1https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/coronavirus-stimulus-cares-act-economic-impact

2https://www.financial-planning.com/news/cares-act-tax-relief-as-irs-says-some-rmds-can-be-undone

3https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/tax-deadlines-extended-due-to-coronavirus

4https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options

5https://www.natlawreview.com/article/cares-act-relief-borrowers-eligible-federal-student-loans

6https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/business/coronavirus-medicare-elderly.html

Chart source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/03/this-chart-shows-which-industries-saw-big-job-losses-in-march-2020.html
https://www.epi.org/blog/nearly-20-million-jobs-lost-by-july-due-to-the-coronavirus/

 

What’s Wrong with the Financial Services Industry?

  • April 5, 2019/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : 401(k), Behavior, Fiduciary, Seeking Prudent Advice

According to Barry Ritholtz, the big problems that plague the financial service industry are the following:

• Simplicity does not pay well: Investing should be relatively simple: Buy broad asset classes, hold them over long periods of time, rebalance periodically, get off the tracks when the locomotive is bearing down on you. The problem is its easier in theory than is reality to execute. And, it is difficult to charge excessive fees for these services.

• Confusion is not a bug, its a feature: Thus, the massive choice, the nonstop noise, confusing claims, contradictory experts all work to make this much a more complex exercise than it need be. This is by design.

• Too much money attracts the wrong kinds of people: Let’s face it, the volume of cash that passes through the Financial Services Industry is enormous. Few who enters finance does so for altruistic reasons. There is a difference between normal greed (human nature) and outright criminality. This is why strong regulators and enforcement cops are required.

• Incentives are misaligned: Too many people lack the patience to get rich slowly. Hence, not only do the wrong people work in finance, and some of the right people exercise bad judgment.

• Too many people have a hand in your pocket:  The list of people nicking you as an investor is enormous. Insiders (CEO/CFO/Boards of Directors) transfer wealth from shareholders to themselves, with the blessing of corrupted Compensation Consultants. 401(k)s are disastrous. NYSE and NASDAQ Exchanges have been paid to allow a HFT tax on every other investor. FASB and Accountants have done an awful job, allowing corporations to mislead investors with junk balance statements. The Media’s job is to sell advertising, not provide you with intelligent advice. The Regulators have been captured.

Source: The Big Picture

 

 


Who Is Best to Manage Your Money?

  • December 21, 2018/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Fiduciary, Seeking Prudent Advice

As an investor, you are faced with hundreds of decisions on where to get your investment advice. Here’s a nice breakdown between advisors and brokers that can help steer your decision making process.

The infographic below refers to advisors using the acronym “RIAs” which stands for Registered Investment Advisors.

NorthStar Capital Advisors is an RIA.  Note that we have no minimum investment requirements so we win Round 4 below as well!  We hope this information will help you understand the role that we play in helping our clients.

(Click on the graphic to enlarge for easier reading)


20 People You Don’t Want to Invest With

  • April 6, 2018/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Behavior, Best Practices, Fiduciary, Scams & Schemes

20Identifying what does NOT work is often a great process for narrowing your list of options of what you should do.  In that spirit, here’s Ben Carlson’s list of 20 people you wouldn’t want to invest with:

1. People that are unwilling or unable to admit their limitations.

2. People that are consumed by ideological or political beliefs when making investment decisions.

3. People that are unwilling to say “I don’t know.”

4. People that don’t learn from their mistakes.

5. People that blame external forces for their failures.

6. People that are unable to effectively communicate their process.

7. People that make guarantees about the markets in the future.

8. People that are more interested in selling you a product than creating a beneficial long-lasting client relationship.

9. People that try to invest in the markets as they “should be” instead of how they actually are.

10. People that are more worried about what others are doing instead of focusing on their own process and goals.

11. People that take the markets personally and let their emotions drive their decisions.

12. People that assume “trust me, I got this” is good enough in terms of explaining their strategy.

13. People that believe in conspiracy theories and think the system is out to get them.

14. People that are more worried about sounding intelligent than actually making money.

15. People that obsess over the market’s short-term movements.

16. People that would rather take you golfing than help you solve your problems.

17. People that make you feel like they’re doing you a favor by letting you invest your money with them.

18. People that try to dazzle you with 200 page pitch books.

19. People that are more worried about gathering future clients than taking care of their current ones.

20. People that tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear.

Source: AWOCS


Putting Clients Second (!?!)

  • February 9, 2017/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Best Practices, Fiduciary, Scams & Schemes, Seeking Prudent Advice

fiduciaryAlthough the following makes reference to politicians and political decisions, it’s not meant to be political.  The intent is to inform you and to help protect you and your family’s best interest.

Today the founder and former chief executive of Vanguard, John C. Bogle, penned an article in the New York Times.  It starts off:

 THE Trump administration recently announced that it intends to review, and presumably overturn, the Obama-era fiduciary duty rule that is scheduled to take effect in April. The administration’s case was articulated by Gary Cohn, the new director of the National Economic Council.

Mr. Cohn, most recently the president of Goldman Sachs, called it “a bad rule” and likened it to “putting only healthy food on the menu, because unhealthy food tastes good but you still shouldn’t eat it because you might die younger.” Comparing healthy and unhealthy food to healthy and unhealthy investments is an interesting analogy.

The now-endangered fiduciary rule is based on a simple — and seemingly unarguable — principle: that in giving advice to clients with retirement funds, stockbrokers, registered investment advisers and insurance agents must act in the best interests of their clients. Honestly, it seems counterproductive to go to war against such a fundamental principle. It simply doesn’t seem like a good business practice for Wall Street to tell its client-investors, “We put your interests second, after our firm’s, but it’s close.”

To learn more, see Mr. Bogle’s article and The Freedom To be Fleeced — How Donald Trump Made Financial Hustles Great Again

It’s easy to get lost in the details and let our minds glaze over, but what you should know is very simple:

  • An advisor that is a fiduciary has a legal obligation to put your best interests first, always.
  • Most people think that all or most advisors are fiduciaries (WRONG!).
  • Most purveyors of financial products and services are NOT fiduciaries.  They comply with a much lower “suitability standard.”
  • To assure you and your family are getting the most trustworthy care, always ask your advisor or financial salesperson the following:
    “Are you a fiduciary?  Are you always acting in a fiduciary capacity when working with me?”

When we formed our advisory practice many years ago we purposefully chose to be a fiduciary because it’s the right thing to do. Incredibly that ethos is counter-cultural in financial services. It’s bemusing to watch the delicate public-relations dance and contortions that many big institutions are making around or in avoidance of doing the right thing.


Giving the Gift of Financial Planning

  • December 15, 2016/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : 401(k), Behavior, Fiduciary, Live Well, Personal Finance, Retirement, Seeking Prudent Advice

gift-of-financial-planning

A Lifetime of Financial Knowledge Wrapped Up in a Bow

Stuck for ideas on what to give newlyweds, graduates, or new parents for Christmas or Hanukkah? Consider something nontraditional this year that will last a lifetime and never go out of style: a visit with a financial planner.

Giving someone a financial planning consultation is a unique way to show you care, and it can help set up a loved one for a successful financial future. Newlyweds, graduates, and new parents all are at the start of a new phase of their lives. A financial planning gift provides them with something that may last for decades.

Those experiencing life’s transitions will also face financial challenges. Whether it’s learning to budget as a couple, understanding retirement plan options at the first job after graduation, or starting to think about paying for college, many important financial decisions await young people today. You can help by putting financial planning front and center.

Maintain the Wedded Bliss

Money and finances are among the top issues that cause marital discord. A financial planner can help strategize for a happily-ever-after financial life. A good planner will spend time talking to the couple, helping them determine their mutual financial goals. There are so many topics a financial planner can help with, including: managing household expenses; reviewing assets, debts, and credit reports; creating a budget; discussing future goals and creating mutual goals such as buying a home; analyzing benefits; updating wills; and reviewing insurance coverage.

Help Graduates Start Right

Once the diploma is hanging on the wall, it’s tempting for new grads to overspend, racking up credit card debt and a new car loan when what they really need to be worrying about is paying down student loans and planning for retirement. A gift of financial planning can help a new graduate establish short- and long-term financial goals and develop a budget to meet those goals. A financial planner may also help the grad deal with the new challenge of filing taxes and make recommendations on how to allocate investments into 401(k) or other retirement savings vehicles.

Bringing Up Baby, or Babies

The government estimates that a middle-income family will spend more than a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child until he or she is 18. New parents will benefit by working with a financial planner to figure out how much money they’ll need to raise their child. A financial planner can help them create a savings safety net, create and stick to a budget, advise about life insurance and wills, and talk about saving for college.

Purchase a financial planning gift certificate for someone you care about and know you’ve made a lasting contribution!

 


20 People You Don’t Want to Invest With

  • August 6, 2015/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Behavior, Best Practices, Fiduciary, Scams & Schemes

20Identifying what does NOT work is often a great process for narrowing your list of options of what you should do.  In that spirit, here’s Ben Carlson’s list of 20 people you wouldn’t want to invest with:

1. People that are unwilling or unable to admit their limitations.

2. People that are consumed by ideological or political beliefs when making investment decisions.

3. People that are unwilling to say “I don’t know.”

4. People that don’t learn from their mistakes.

5. People that blame external forces for their failures.

6. People that are unable to effectively communicate their process.

7. People that make guarantees about the markets in the future.

8. People that are more interested in selling you a product than creating a beneficial long-lasting client relationship.

9. People that try to invest in the markets as they “should be” instead of how they actually are.

10. People that are more worried about what others are doing instead of focusing on their own process and goals.

11. People that take the markets personally and let their emotions drive their decisions.

12. People that assume “trust me, I got this” is good enough in terms of explaining their strategy.

13. People that believe in conspiracy theories and think the system is out to get them.

14. People that are more worried about sounding intelligent than actually making money.

15. People that obsess over the market’s short-term movements.

16. People that would rather take you golfing than help you solve your problems.

17. People that make you feel like they’re doing you a favor by letting you invest your money with them.

18. People that try to dazzle you with 200 page pitch books.

19. People that are more worried about gathering future clients than taking care of their current ones.

20. People that tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear.

Source: AWOCS


Why the big broker behind your financial adviser might be working against you

  • April 2, 2015/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Best Practices, Fiduciary, Scams & Schemes

fingers-crossed

A report released last week by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) pointed out nine big brokerages for advertising as if they are fiduciaries, but denying that standard and renouncing any requirement to avoid conflicted advice in private arbitration hearings.

Those nine brokerages are: Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, Ameriprise, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Allstate, UBS, Berthel Fisher, and Charles Schwab.

Fiduciaries have a legal requirement to put client interests ahead of all others.

The report includes samples of misleading advertising from major brokerage firms AND the firms’ legal repudiations when their brokers are sued for losses caused by misconduct.

Allstate
Their advertisements say: “Your’e in good hands.”
Their lawyers say: “Allstate Financial Services owed no fiduciary duty to Claimants, and, therefore, no such duty was breached.”

UBS
Their advertisements say: “Until my client knows she comes first. Until I understand what drives her. And what slows her down. Until I know what makes her leap out of bed in the morning. And what keeps her awake at night. Until she understands that I’m always thinking about her investment. (Even if she isn’t.) Not at the office. But at the opera. At a barbecue. In a traffic jam. Until her ambitions feel like my ambitions. Until then. We will not rest. UBS.”
Their lawyers say: “[A] broker does not owe a fiduciary duty to his customer in a non-discretionary account.”

Merrill Lynch
Their advertisements say: “It’s time for a financial strategy that puts your needs and priorities front and center.”
Their lawyers say: “Respondents did not stand in a fiduciary relationship with Claimants.”

Morgan Stanley
Their advertisements say: “Having an intimate knowledge of blue chips and small caps is important. But even more important is an intimate knowledge of you and your goals. Get connected to a Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor and get a more personalized plan for achieving success.”
Their lawyers say: “Claimant’s claim seeks to impose ‘fiduciary’ obligations and duties on Respondents that only arise in very limited circumstances that do not exist here, i.e. where Respondents are given discretionary trading authority over Claimant’s accounts.”

The report succinctly summarizes this disparity:
“On one hand, the firms boast that they offer unconflicted, trustworthy advice while, on the other hand, those same firms argue they are little more than salesmen with a single duty: to execute trades in customers’ accounts.”

Sources:
MarketWatch
USN


Whose side is your financial adviser on, anyway?

  • July 18, 2013/
  • Posted By : admin/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Fiduciary, Scams & Schemes, Seeking Prudent Advice

This is not a fiduciary.

Does your financial adviser have a legal duty to give advice that’s in your best interests? The chances are that you think the answer to this question is “yes.”

Chances are, you’re wrong.

Not everyone who gives you financial advice has a duty to actually help you. The technical term for the true helpers is ‘fiduciaries.’ That means it’s their legal duty to always put their client’s best interests ahead of their own.

There are some financial helpers who are fiduciaries. That includes certified financial planners and Registered Investment Advisors – usually known as RIAs. Their job description includes warning you away from any financial cliffs. Unfortunately, these people are a small part of the financial advice world – they make up less than 20% of the universe.

NorthStar Capital Advisors is a Registered Investment Advisor and has a fiduciary responsibility to its clients.

Read more about fiduciaries in this article.

 


123
Recent Posts
  • Thoughts on the shifting housing market June 5,2025
  • The patience premium: What market history teaches us May 1,2025
  • What's next for markets and the economy? April 1,2025
  • Navigating Financial Uncertainty Amid Federal Layoffs March 3,2025
  • AI bubble burst? What's next February 1,2025
Archives
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
Categories
  • 401(k)
  • Annuities
  • Behavior
  • Best Practices
  • Bonds
  • Charitable Donations
  • Economy
  • Fees
  • Fiduciary
  • Financial Planning
  • Investing 101
  • Live Well
  • Market Outlook
  • Mutual Funds
  • NorthStar
  • Performance
  • Personal Finance
  • Planning
  • Retirement
  • Saving Money
  • Scams & Schemes
  • Seeking Prudent Advice
  • Tax Planning
  • Uncategorised
  • Uncategorized
  • Weekly Market Review
ABOUT US

We are a fee-only, independent fiduciary advisor. Our allegiance rests solely with our clients and their best interests. We are headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and serve client families across the nation.



CLIENT TOOLS
CONTACT
  • (704) 350-5028
  • info@nstarcapital.com
  • 521 East Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203
    (by appointment only)
  • fax: (704) 626-3462
FROM OUR BLOG
  • Thoughts on the shifting housing market June 5,2025
  • The patience premium: What market history teaches us May 1,2025
  • What's next for markets and the economy? April 1,2025
Nothing on this website constitutes either the provision of investment advice or solicitation to provide investment advice.
Investment advice can only be provided through a formal investment advisory relationship.