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Investing Articles from a Fee-Only Fiduciary

Short reads on the things worth understanding before you invest. These guides are educational and are not advice for your situation. Narstar manages four model portfolios you can be matched to. How we write and correct these.

A woman at a kitchen window taking notes during a phone call

Choosing an Adviser7 min read

How to Find a Fee-Only Financial Advisor

Where to search, what public records to pull, and the questions worth asking before you hire anyone. No directories that charge advisers for placement.

An antique brass balance scale on a windowsill with both pans empty

Fiduciary8 min read

What Is a Fiduciary Financial Advisor?

Fiduciary duty is a legal obligation, not a marketing claim. This covers what it actually requires, who it applies to (and who it doesn't), how it differs from the Regulation Best Interest standard, and where to look up an adviser's status on public records.

River stones of increasing size arranged in a row, from a small pebble to a large boulder

Investing Basics8 min read

What Is Market Cap? Micro-Cap to Mega-Cap Ranges

What market cap actually measures, the five size tiers from micro-cap to mega-cap, why size and risk move together, and where each Narstar model portfolio sits on that spectrum.

A hand lifting one slice of pie away from the whole pie on a wood table

Investing Basics9 min read

What Is a Stock? What It Means to Own Shares

Owning a share means owning a small piece of a real company. This covers how companies raise money by issuing stock, the two ways you can make money from a stock (and how you can lose it), and where individual stocks fit in Narstar's portfolios.

Hands cutting a red ribbon with scissors on a wooden table

Investing Basics9 min read

IPO Investing: Risks, Lockups and What to Check

What actually happens on IPO day, why the 180-day lockup period matters, and what to check in the prospectus before you buy a newly public stock.

Hands placing an apple into one of two woven baskets on a wooden table

Investing Basics9 min read

ETFs vs Mutual Funds: Taxes, Fees and Trading

What each one is, how they compare on cost, taxes, and trading, and how Narstar's model portfolios use stocks and exchange-traded products.

A faded painted wall with a pale rectangle and a bent nail where a framed notice used to hang

Fiduciary5 min read

DOL Fiduciary Rule in 2026: What Protects Rollover Advice?

Two federal courts vacated the Department of Labor's 2024 fiduciary rule before it ever took effect. This covers what it would have required, how the courts threw it out, and the legal standards that still apply to your retirement accounts.

Hands pouring dried beans from an old tin canister into a glass jar

Retirement11 min read

How to Roll Over a 401(k) to an IRA: Step by Step

A rollover moves your old 401(k) into an IRA. Done right, moving pre-tax money into a traditional IRA creates no tax bill now. Covers the direct vs. indirect difference, what happens to the money while it's moving, and what Narstar manages at IBKR once the transfer settles.

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Retirement8 min read

Types of Retirement Accounts: 401(k), Traditional IRA, Roth and SEP

Traditional, Roth, SEP, 401(k): each one has different tax rules, different contribution limits, and different constraints on what you can invest in. Covers the key differences and which of these Narstar manages at Interactive Brokers.

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Choosing an Adviser8 min read

Fee-Only vs Fee-Based Financial Advisor: The Real Difference

"Fee-only" and "fee-based" sound the same. They're not. One adviser earns money only from you; the other can also earn commissions from the products they sell you. Here's what each one actually means and how to tell which you're dealing with.

A hand writing in a paper notebook beside a tablet showing a plain app screen, on a wood desk

Choosing an Adviser7 min read

Robo-Advisor vs Fee-Only Advisor: Who Each One Fits

Most robo plans put your money in a ready-made mix of ETFs and let software manage it. Fees and access to a real person vary by provider and plan. Here is where that works, and where it doesn't.

Our editorial standard

These articles are educational and are not investment, tax, or legal advice for your situation. Key tax, legal, and regulatory claims link to a primary source (the IRS, the Department of Labor, the SEC, a court order, academic research, or our own Form ADV), linked where the source publishes one. We review these articles on a rolling basis and correct them when the underlying rule or data changes. If you find something that has gone stale, tell us and we will fix it.

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