Questions about fees, custody, and how our fee-only service works

NarStar LLC is a state-registered investment adviser, CRD #337496, registered in Utah and conditionally registered in Texas. You can verify the registration yourself on IAPD (opens in new tab) (search by firm name or CRD number to confirm current status, registration history, and any disciplinary record). Our background, fees, and all conflicts of interest are documented in Form ADV, filed with state regulators.

Nothing changes for your existing accounts. You open a new account at Interactive Brokers (opens in new tab) and fund it with whatever amount you want managed. We only have authority over the IBKR account you specifically set up with Narstar. We can't access, move, or trade anything held elsewhere.

Individual and joint taxable accounts, IRAs (Traditional, Roth, Rollover, SEP), employer-sponsored SIMPLE IRA participant accounts, trust accounts, and entity accounts. All accounts must be at Interactive Brokers. Your active 401(k) at a current employer stays with the plan. A rollover IRA funded from a previous 401(k) and held at IBKR is managed normally. See the 401(k) rollover guide for the full process.

The standard minimum is $3,000 per Model Portfolio in a non-retirement account, and $3,000 per account in a Traditional, Roth, or SEP IRA, where one account can hold more than one model portfolio. SIMPLE IRA participant accounts have no minimum and are not eligible for the Starter Account. There is no account maximum; $250,000 is only the interactive calculator's display ceiling. Clients whose advisory agreement was signed before July 6, 2026 keep the minimum that was in effect when they signed. If you'd like to start with less, ask about the Starter Account option. See the next question for how it works.

A new client may open one $100 Starter Account in one of our three model portfolios. It must reach $3,000 by the last day of the sixth calendar month after opening. SIMPLE IRA participant accounts have no minimum and are not eligible for the Starter Account. That threshold is met as soon as cumulative net deposits reach $3,000 or the account value reaches $3,000 at any point, whichever comes first. Hit it early and the account converts permanently to a standard account. Miss the deadline and we may close and liquidate the account on 30 days' written notice, or extend the deadline. Liquidation is a taxable event. Any capital gains or losses from the sale belong to you.

Yes. Narstar works exclusively through Interactive Brokers. You open an account at IBKR, fund it with whatever amount you want managed, and grant Narstar limited trading authority over that account. Your existing accounts at other brokerages stay exactly where they are. We have no access to them. IBKR is a publicly traded, SIPC-member brokerage with $500,000 in standard SIPC coverage plus $30 million in excess coverage. Account setup takes about 15 minutes online.

Robo-advisors build portfolios from index funds, usually based on a short questionnaire. Narstar selects individual stocks for each portfolio: dividend-paying companies selected for cash flow in Income, durable competitive advantages in Growth, and a small number of concentrated positions in Speculative. You get a human investment adviser bound by fiduciary duty. Robo-advisors are cheaper. Our fees are higher because the portfolios are actively managed by a person, not an algorithm. See the full comparison in Robo-Advisor vs. Fee-Only Adviser.

NarStar LLC is a sole-owner, single-adviser firm. I am the only person who makes investment decisions for client accounts, and Form ADV discloses that as key person risk. If I'm incapacitated or die, trading activity stops and management is interrupted until you move the account to another adviser or take it over yourself. Your assets stay in your own account at Interactive Brokers the entire time. Nothing is automatically liquidated, and you keep full control of the account.

Fee-only means the adviser's only revenue comes from client fees: no advisory commissions, no product sales, and no payments from anyone but you. Narstar is fee-only. The fee-only structure reduces many common conflicts. It does not eliminate every conflict. Remaining conflicts are disclosed in Form ADV.

Taxable accounts are charged 0.60%/yr for Income, 1.20%/yr for Growth, and 1.60%/yr for Speculative. Billed quarterly in arrears and deducted in cash directly from your account by the custodian. IRAs (Traditional, Roth, Rollover, SEP, and SIMPLE) are charged a uniform 1.00% annual rate regardless of model portfolio mix. The standard minimum is $3,000 per Model Portfolio in a non-retirement account, and $3,000 per account in a Traditional, Roth, or SEP IRA, where one account can hold more than one model portfolio. Narstar charges no signup or exit fees. Interactive Brokers charges separate brokerage commissions and fees, which go to them, not to us. Use the fee calculator on the homepage to estimate your Narstar advisory fee at any balance.

No. Narstar is an investment adviser, not a tax adviser. We don't provide tax planning, prepare returns, or advise on tax strategy. When managing taxable accounts, we're mindful of the tax implications of trading decisions, but that's not the same as tax advice. For tax questions, consult a CPA or tax attorney.

The advisory fee is calculated as a percentage of your average daily net liquidation value for the quarter, as determined by Interactive Brokers. Each quarter we bill one-fourth of the annual rate. For a taxable Growth account at 1.20% per year, that's 0.30% per quarter. On a $50,000 average daily balance, the quarterly fee is $150. Traditional, Roth, Rollover, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs use a uniform 1.00% annual rate regardless of model portfolio mix. At a $50,000 average daily balance, that is $500 per year, billed in $125 quarterly installments. The fee is deducted in cash directly from your IBKR account by the custodian. You don't receive a separate invoice. If your account has little or no cash when the fee is due, we may sell a position to cover it. Any tax from that sale is your responsibility. No fee is charged while your account is below the custodian's minimum billing threshold, and no fee is back-charged once you cross that threshold. If the deduction briefly creates a negative cash balance, we cover it promptly, generally within a few business days, including by selling positions as part of our discretionary management. If you have margin enabled, it may appear as a short-term margin loan, and any margin interest that results is your responsibility.

Yes. Interactive Brokers charges its own commissions and fees on trades placed in your account. These go directly to IBKR, not to us. We have no financial incentive to trade frequently. Our advisory fee is based on account value, not transaction volume, so there's no reason for us to churn your account.

Short answer: no, not on your federal return. Advisory fees paid from a taxable account used to be claimed as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 suspended that deduction, and the 2025 federal tax law made the disallowance permanent. Fees paid inside an IRA work differently, because they come out of pre-tax money rather than being deducted on your return. State treatment can differ, tax rules change, and your situation matters. Talk to a CPA.

Fee-only means the adviser earns compensation from client fees and nothing else. Fee-based means they can also earn commissions from product sales. A fee-based adviser may have a financial incentive to recommend products that pay them, even if those products aren't the best option for you. Narstar is fee-only. See the full breakdown in fee-only vs. fee-based adviser.

At Interactive Brokers (opens in new tab), in an account in your name. IBKR is a SIPC member with $500,000 in standard coverage plus $30 million excess coverage. You can verify SIPC coverage on IBKR's site (opens in new tab). SIPC protects against brokerage failure, not market losses. Your money is invested in equities and can go up or down.

No. We have limited authority: we can buy and sell securities inside your account, and the custodian deducts our advisory fee from it. We cannot withdraw assets for our own benefit and we cannot send money to a third party. We may move cash between accounts you own at Interactive Brokers that are held in your name in the same registration, and only to fund, implement, or rebalance the allocation you agreed to. Moving money out of Interactive Brokers to another person or institution is something only you can do.

Yes, with no lock-up period and no exit fee. Send an email and we remove trading authority from your account. Your holdings stay at Interactive Brokers. You choose whether to keep them, liquidate, or transfer to another broker. If you leave mid-quarter, the advisory fee is prorated to your exit date.

Log in to Interactive Brokers directly. IBKR shows real-time positions, transaction history, and statements. Narstar doesn't have a separate portal. Everything happens in your IBKR account, and you can set up alerts there for any account activity.

Interactive Brokers sends account statements directly to you at least quarterly. Narstar reviews each Model Portfolio at least quarterly and each client account at least annually. You can request an additional review or a written portfolio summary or performance report at any time.

Narstar maintains physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards, including encryption and access controls, to protect client information. We do not sell client data or share it with nonaffiliated third parties for marketing. Read the Privacy Policy for the full notice and your rights.

You can request a withdrawal from your Interactive Brokers account at any time. We have no ability to block or delay it. Most withdrawals process within one to three business days depending on the method. If you need the full balance, you would typically sell holdings first, wait for settlement (generally one business day for most U.S. stocks, with some exceptions), then withdraw. Contact us to terminate the advisory agreement and the fee is prorated to your exit date.

Dividends paid by stocks in your account are deposited directly into your IBKR account by the paying company. We don't automatically reinvest them. The cash sits until the next portfolio review, at which point it goes into positions below their target size, or stays as cash if nothing fits. The Income Portfolio is built around stocks that pay dividends regularly. Dividend amounts are set by each company and can be reduced or eliminated at any time.

Yes. You can fund your Interactive Brokers account at any time. New cash is invested in the model portfolio at the next portfolio review, directed toward positions below their target size or new ideas. There's no minimum for subsequent contributions and no maximum. Adding funds doesn't change your portfolio assignment or advisory agreement.

Reach out via the contact form below, email, or phone and we'll help figure out the right fit. Generally: Income is for investors who want stocks selected for cash flow and are comfortable with equity risk. Growth is for long-term investors who won't need the money for at least three years. Speculative is for a small portion of capital you can genuinely afford to lose, not retirement savings and not money you need soon. Each portfolio page goes deeper on who it's built for and what the risks are.

Yes. All three portfolios hold stocks, which means account values can fall as well as rise. Income and Growth carry normal stock market risk. The Speculative Portfolio is more concentrated in smaller companies and can decline sharply, including 30%, 40%, or more.

Income and Growth tend to have low turnover. We buy positions we intend to hold, not trade frequently. The Speculative Portfolio may see more activity when positions are entered or exited based on changing conditions. We don't churn accounts. Our advisory fees are based on account value, not transaction volume, so there's no financial incentive to trade more than necessary.

Yes. In a taxable account, each portfolio needs its own account, billed at that portfolio's rate. In an IRA (Traditional, Roth, Rollover, SEP, or SIMPLE), a single account can hold more than one model portfolio at once, still billed at the uniform 1.00% IRA rate regardless of the mix. Reach out via the contact form below to discuss how to structure multiple accounts.

The Income Portfolio holds dividend-paying stocks selected for cash flow. Dividends are deposited into your account when paid by the underlying companies. It carries normal stock market risk. Dividends can be cut and share prices can fall. It's not a fixed-income product and doesn't guarantee any level of income. See the Income Portfolio page for full details on what it holds and who it's built for.

The Growth Portfolio holds companies selected for durable competitive advantages, with the goal of long-term compounding. Positions are intended to be held for years. It's suited for investors who won't need the funds for at least three years and are comfortable with price swings, including extended periods of underperformance. See the Growth Portfolio page for full details.

The Speculative Portfolio holds a small number of positions in smaller companies. It carries much more risk than the other two portfolios and can decline sharply, including 30%, 40%, or more. It's not suitable for retirement savings or money you need access to. It's intended for a small portion of capital you can genuinely afford to lose. See the Speculative Portfolio page for full details.

No. These are fixed model portfolios. All clients assigned to a given portfolio hold the same positions. After you reach out, we send a short questionnaire about your goals, timeline, and how much loss you're comfortable with to find the right match, but the portfolio itself doesn't change from client to client. Narstar doesn't build custom portfolios.

Individual stocks and cash equivalents only. Narstar doesn't use index funds, ETFs, or mutual funds. Income holds dividend-paying companies selected for cash flow. Growth holds companies with durable competitive advantages. Speculative holds a concentrated set of smaller companies. This is an active, opinionated approach that costs more than indexing and depends on whether our picks are right. If you'd rather buy the whole market at low cost, a robo-advisor is probably a better fit.

Narstar works well for people who want their money actively managed and don't want to spend time doing it themselves. You'd want to understand that stocks go up and down, be comfortable opening an account at Interactive Brokers, and prefer talking to an actual person rather than an algorithm. If that sounds right, reach out via the contact form or email.

Narstar is probably not the right fit if you need financial planning, budgeting help, debt advice, or insurance guidance. It's also not right if you want a portfolio built entirely around index funds (a robo-advisor would cost less), if you need your money back within the next one to two years, or if you're not comfortable with the possibility of losing principal. Being clear about fit saves time on both sides. If you're not sure, send a message and ask.

Investment management only. Narstar manages your portfolio at Interactive Brokers. We don't provide financial planning, budgeting advice, debt management, insurance analysis, estate planning, or tax planning. Those are separate disciplines. If you need a full financial plan first, a fee-only financial planner who charges by the hour and doesn't manage assets may be a better starting point.

Yes. Narstar is a one-person firm. I'm the only investment adviser representative, and every trading decision and every reply to your messages comes from me directly. At larger firms, your account may be managed by someone you've never spoken to. Here, there's nobody to hand you off to. That said, it also means the relationship depends on one person continuing to operate the business, which is disclosed as a risk in Form ADV.

Reach out using the contact form below, email, or phone. I'll send you our disclosures and a short questionnaire covering your goals, timeline, and how much loss you're comfortable with. I review your answers and reply within two business days with a recommended portfolio and any follow-up questions. If it looks like a fit, you open an account at Interactive Brokers (about 15 minutes online), fund it with whatever amount you want managed, and grant Narstar limited trading authority. We take it from there. You sign a short advisory agreement with no lock-up period and no exit fee, and you can end it at any time.

We don't try to time the market or shift to cash in anticipation of declines. Our approach is to hold positions through volatility unless the underlying business case for a company has changed. Selling in a panic is how investors lock in losses and miss recoveries. For the Income and Growth portfolios, short-term price drops don't change why we own a company. For the Speculative Portfolio, sharp declines are expected and should be planned for from the start. If market volatility causes you serious anxiety, that's worth discussing before you invest, not after.