“The single most important decision you will ever make about the future of your financial well-being is the selection of your financial advisor because of the influence and control they have over your decisions. If you chose the wrong advisor you will have less wealth; chose the right one and you will have more. It’s that simple!” Jack Waymire – Paladin
The three critical attributes of your financial advisor should be:
Why is our Independence important to you?
Do you want to stop worrying about whether you are getting objective
advice?
Is your advisor always acting in your best interests? Are you sure?
Unlike brokerage firms, insurance companies and banks, Northstar is completely independent and Fee-Only™. When a broker, bank representative or insurance agent talks to you - you are never sure whose interest they have at heart. Do they serve you, themselves or their company? You never know!
You always know with Northstar since we receive no commissions, sell no products and have no conflicts of interest. We remain unbiased and committed to looking out for your best interests 100% of the time.
Perhaps the biggest deception in the investment world today is the way in which many financial advisors/brokers lead investors to believe that they are getting “free” investment advice. What they neglect to tell their clients, however, is that they are being paid -- quite handsomely in fact -- through hefty “hidden” fees that are levied against individual investor accounts. These fees come in the form of one-time fees as high as 8.5% and annually recurring fees as high as 2% for many commission-based mutual funds and annuities. This form of compensation creates an inherent conflict of interest by providing the broker/advisor an incentive to recommend high commission products, such as whole life and/or universal life insurance, variable & equity indexed annuities, and A, B, & C shares of mutual funds.
Go to our series of “Who can you trust”
articles on this subject and see how more often than not, many investors are
lulled into believing that they are getting something for nothing, but more
often than not, just end up with the “nothing” part of the deal!
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Brokers may only be held to a “suitability standard,” and may not be required to act solely in the interests of their clients; Northstar is held to much more stringent fiduciary standards.
Northstar is a Registered Investment Advisor under the Investment Advisor Act of 1940. Under the Investment Advisor Act of 1940, Northstar has a fiduciary obligation to act solely in a client’s best interests. As your fiduciary, we always act in your best interest and take our fiduciary responsibility very seriously.
Under NASD regulation requirements, brokers don’t always have to fully disclose potential conflicts of interest when financial planning is seen as incidental. From a regulatory standpoint they are viewed as “order takers” that simply place trades at a client’s request.
Furthermore, client-broker disputes are not settled in a court of law, but
in most brokerage contracts are settled in arbitration – a venue that
is generally viewed as being more lenient for brokers in hot water and that
buys the claim they were merely taking client orders and were not providing
financial planning services.
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Sam Hull and Robin Young have over 25 years of combined financial planning & investment advisory experience leading to a long record of success in helping clients enrich their lives and live their dreams. Sam & Robin are licensed CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals as well as both having their Masters in Business Administration degree (MBA). They are further distinguished by earning their Registered Life Planner® from the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. Additionally, they each devote more than 15 hours per year in continuing education in the tools and techniques of our profession and are qualified to provide advice in all areas of your financial situation, including:
• Investments
• Retirement
• Estate Planning
• Risk Management
• Company Benefits
• Tax Planning
• Cash Flow Analysis
• Education Planning
Through our years of experience, we have developed a network of top professionals for specialized advice including estate planning and implementation, tax preparation, real estate transactions, insurance products and retirement plan administration.
Contact us today to set up a free no-obligation appointment.
Northstar Financial Planning, Inc.
New Hampshire's Investment Experts
One Commons Drive, Unit 10, Bldg B
Londonderry, NH 03053
(603) 216-9226
info@northstarfp.com.
Fee-Only • Independent • Certified Financial Planner • Financial Advisor • Registered Investment Advisors • Wealth Manager