Our Mission

Collaborate 

I feel an obligation to work with trusted advisors to help them to do the best job possible for their clients. Sometimes this includes considering a reverse mortgage as a source of liquidity for the estate or retirement planning. My role is to be a trusted advisor for the advisor, for their clients and their families.

Educate

Honest conversation truly does shine a light on misunderstandings and erroneous beliefs. I feel that same way about sharing what I know about reverse mortgages with homeowners, their families and trust advisors. However, it all begins with trust and listening and teamwork.
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Problem-Solve

I view trusted advisors as “financial physicians''. Their profession is to assess the difference between what a client has and what he wants or needs. They use questions to assess if a client has a “fever”.
​Once the medicine is administered, their client can sing, Hey, 98.6, it’s good to have you back again!
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I encourage you to call me to discuss your or your clients case without any concerns. As Bar Association, PFAC, Chamber of Commerce, AFCPE, NRMLA and FPA members, we adhere to a rigorous ethical standard. ​
Read More About Reverse Your Thinking® Mortgage's Mission

What is a Reverse Mortgage or a HECM?

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The most common type of reverse mortgage is a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which is also called a HECM. It allows you to access your home equity and turn it into cash. Borrowers choose a reverse mortgage because it allows them to remain in their homes, as long as they meet the loan terms, and provides funds that can greatly supplement their retirement income.

Eliminate the burden of a monthly mortgage payment, you can free up cash to cover other important expenses.* The proceeds are tax-free** and can be used in various ways, like paying health care costs or financing home renovations and afford to stay in the home you love and age in place.*

The Reverse Mortgage Specialist

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Mathius Marc Gertz

Call Us: 310-447-5266
​or
​ make an appointment!

Reverse Your Thinking® Mortgage

Mathius Marc Gertz  is a Mortgage Broker with Reverse Your Thinking® Mortgage and is located in Los Angeles County. The Principal of parent company SayWhyNot, Inc.,Marc holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), is an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC®) and also a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS). Through his mortgage practice, Marc represents a complete spectrum of reverse mortgage and limited equity share programs. He collaborates with trusted advisors to design and implement programs that satisfy the legal and financial planning needs of their clients. As an AFC®, he offers both lender-sponsored programs to his clients as well as fee-based counseling.
 
Marc maintains a holistic collaborative approach to the reverse financial planning process that includes educating advisors and keeping them current on financial strategies to help protect the quality of their clients lives. Marc believes that the key to a successful long term retirement plan is open communication and being proactive, along with a plan designed to address the unique needs and goals of each and every client. 

The three watch-words of his practice are; collaborate, educate, problem-solve.
 
A specialist in reverse financial retirement plans and their history, Marc is frequently invited to present training and educational sessions for attorneys, financial planners, fiduciaries, accountants and bankers. He also does educational seminars for schools, colleges, and community & fraternal groups on wealth creation, money and emotions, aging in place and political and financial literacy. Marc has earned a reputation for explaining difficult subjects in a style that is easily understood.

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Reverse Mortgages - Why All  The Negative Press?

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Beginning in the 1930’s under President Roosevelt, there has been a constant series of social legislation passed by the Congress to predominantly benefit the middle and lower economic classes. The one piece of legislation passed back then that most people remember was the Social Security Act in 1935.  What we were told back then, is that social security would “solve senior poverty”. By 1955, Congress knew that Social Security was in financial trouble to accomplish that goal. So working with the IRS, they passed laws to help induce Americans to save for retirement and supplement what little they would get from Social Security. That is where IRA, Keogh, SEP and 401k plans, that have a favorable impression in most Americans minds, come from.  Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) programs were just another piece of that ongoing federal social legislation. But the (HECM)  program suffers from a mixed reputation. Why?

Some mortgage companies in the 1960’s came up with an idea for a new type of loan they called a reverse mortgage. Under their plan, you signed over the title to your home to the lender, the lender would allow you live in your home for the rest of your life, would make your mortgage payments for you, paid you an income per month for life; and when you and you spouse passed away, the lender owned the house. Now for some people  this was a good solution for not having enough income to live on, but there was a problem.

Starting in the mid 1970’s, these reverse mortgage homeowners began to pass-away and that’s when many of their grown children found out for the first time that they weren’t going to inherit the home. There were big articles in the newspaper about it. Columnists, like Ann Landers, wrote articles about senior abuse. There were lawsuits, inquiries, congressional investigations and lots of negative press. By the early 1980’s, these “reverse loans” were all but gone. But an entire generation, the Baby Boomers and their children, now believed that anything called a  reverse mortgage was bad. ​​But the only thing that those programs from the 1960’s have in common with the current programs, that didn't become permanent until 1998, is the same nickname, reverse mortgage. Otherwise they have nothing in common with one another. 

It is important to remember that HECM loans are a piece of federal social legislation like IRA, Keogh and 401k plans that are administered by private companies. They were signed into law in 1988 and became permanent in 1998. They are just another tool to help in retirement planning.

Who Can Benefit From a Reverse Mortgage

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The Safety Net Seeker

Susan was a busy exec at a fortune 500 company. Divorced and in her early 60’s she was assessing her retirement plan with her advisor. She had done well and had plenty of funds set aside for retirement. Between her pension, self-directed 401K and social security, she looked forward to a comfortable retirement. However, her advisor Karen knew that the best laid plans can go astray.....READ MORE

The Maximizer

Jeffrey wanted to make sure he would be able to maximize the income from his investment portfolio. He met with the wealth manager at his local bank and was concerned when they discussed what might happen if his stock-based portfolio should decline in a bear market. 
Jake, his banker, put him in touch with me.....READ MORE 

The Homebody

Gary and Jean had decided that they wanted to live in their current home for the rest of their lives. They had spoken to their grown sons and neither one wanted their parents’ home once they died. So, maximizing income while alive was the only consideration when they called me at their accountants advise. .....READ MORE

Is a Reverse Mortgage right for you?

Everyone's situation is different - take our Self-Evaluation and we will get in touch with you and let you know if a reverse mortgage can work for you and if so what it will accomplish.  If not, we will be more than happy to point you in the right direction - free of charge. Together we can custom design a solution to your needs. 

​Let us separate fact from fiction and
​Reverse Your Thinking® about Reverse Mortgages!

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