Mathius M. “Marc” Gertz

Marc started working in real-estate-based lending in the 1990’s. Prior to that he was in financial planning and investment related fields. Today, he is most known as a specialist in reverse mortgages and as a financial counselor who helps clients to realistically look at their budgets. He also spent some years as a high school teacher. From that experience he learned patience, how to listen well and how to break down difficult jargon and concepts into easily digestible information in layman’s terms. He is pleased to be a trusted resource for advisors and their clients as well.

Collaborate. Educate. Problem-Solve.

Mathius, aka Marc, has always been curious and empathetic about the world and the people in it. He took up theater and SCUBA when he was younger and learned from both how to collaborate well with others. While he listens very well, he enjoys helping others to solve problems and sharing what he knows when it is appropriate. He is involved in philanthropy with the WE BENEFIT CHILDREN non-profit which raises funds for small non-profits that work directly with at risk children in Los Angeles. Born and raised in New York City, he has lived in Los Angeles since 1999 with his wife, Angie Wells. www.angiewellsmusic.com

Mathius holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA), is an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC®), a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS), a Certified Reverse Mortgage Specialist (CREV) and also a Certified Divorce Lending Professional (CDLP®). As an AFC®, he offers both lender-sponsored programs to his clients as well as fee-based counseling. He is also licensed in life & health insurance and is both a Real Estate and Mortgage Broker.

He collaborates with trusted advisors to design and implement programs that satisfy their client’s legal and financial planning needs. Mathius represents a complete spectrum of reverse mortgages, HELOC, neg-am and limited equity share programs through his mortgage practice.

Mathius enjoys helping other specialists solve problems for their clients. This is why he takes a fiduciary position in his work. It is always about solving the clients’ problems first and foremost.

The majority of his time, he is called upon for his reverse mortgage and related products expertise. Some of the trusted advisors he works with include estate & trust, eldercare and family law attorneys, certified financial planners and wealth managers, business managers, accountants, real estate professionals and in home care organizations.

Marc started working in real-estate-based lending in the 1990’s. Prior to that he was in financial planning and investment related fields. Today, he is most known as a specialist in reverse mortgages and as a financial counselor who helps clients to realistically look at their budgets. He also spent some years as a high school teacher. From that experience he learned patience, how to listen well and how to break down difficult jargon and concepts into easily digestible information in layman’s terms. He is pleased to be a trusted resource for advisors and their clients as well.

As he got deeper into specializing in reverse mortgage lending, Marc realized that many times clients and their advisors were not looking into these programs as an option out of fear or misunderstandings about how they actually worked. His mission became to reverse your thinking about reverse mortgages so that clients and their advisors could make intelligent decisions about their financial reality. He teaches financial literacy through the Aging Mastery Program designed by the National Council on Aging. He also lectures on reverse mortgages and discusses all aspects of these and other plans as well on his AM/FM radio show and podcast, Reverse Your Thinking®.

As a Mortgage Broker and specialist, Marc represents a complete spectrum of reverse mortgage, limited equity share, HELOC, neg-am and hybrid products. 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, if they prefer.

Reverse Mortgages are misunderstood and an under utilized tool to help soon to be, or already retired older adults achieve and maintain the quality of life they desire in retirement.

Mathius maintains a holistic collaborative approach to the reverse financial planning process that includes educating advisors and keeping them current on relevant law and new financial strategies to help protect and improve the quality of their clients’ lives. Mathius believes that the key to a successful long term retirement plan is open communication and being proactive, versus reactive, whenever possible; along with a plan designed to address the unique needs and goals of each and every client. He shows advisors creative ways to use reverse programs to reduce the chance of slip and fall lawsuits, reduce capital gains taxes, purchase single premium long term care policies, settle financial asset division in a divorce and stabilize investment portfolios in the event of a market downturn.

The three watch-words of his practice are; collaborate, educate, problem-solve. Mathius is an alumnus of the University of Southern California. In addition to Cinematic Arts and Business, he also majored in History at USC and feels that it was one of the best decisions of his life.

Learning how to research facts and dig for the truth has influenced the way he does business. Marc is interested in the how and why of where we are today in this world. He often says, “You cannot go back and change the past. Let’s live in the present and impact the future.”

When he sits with his clients, Mathius inquires similarly about their own personal histories and how and why they made the decisions that they did. This gives him insight into how to best design a plan to meet the needs of a client and why it has a great chance of success. It is not unusual for Mathius to play the role of a mediator for a couple in these decisions. For many, financial conversations are difficult. But patience, listening and empathy can bridge many gaps.

“You see things, and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw

No matter where you live in California or the United States, you are invited. Please fill out the information on the Quote and his staff will reach out to you to make an appointment to speak with Marc directly on the phone at no cost.

I'm here to tell about my experience in dealing with Marc Gertz. We put together a reverse loan program for my father-in-law and I had looked at about four or five different proposals. Marc Gertz was one of them that we looked at and we ultimately settled on Marc. What we liked about Marc is he presented a solution that seemed to work well for our situation and not only that but Marc was very diligent and followed up very well. He had great rapport with my father in law who was 96 or 95 at that time and that was really the key to get this program through. Marc had a great rapport with my sister-in-law and my wife who were basically pushing the program forward. We needed the funds to keep my father-in-law in his home with long term of caregivers. Marc was very thorough, explained the program very well and we all understood it and at the end of the Day so had my father in law. I had no problem in signing the papers and going forward with it. I'd like to say that we had a very positive experience with Marc and we highly recommend him for anybody looking for reverse mortgage. - Mark Olson

If anybody needs to refinancing or get a reverse mortgage there is nobody better, more tenacious and knowledgeable than Marc. My wife and I were in desperate straits. Drowning in credit card debt. Our fault. This close to having to sell our condo when Marc came to the rescue. We didn't qualify for a reverse mortgage. Our FICO's were shot. It took him six months to find the right vehicle, but he finally found another way to get the funds to pay off our debt and live month to month within our means. Nobody else suggested to us what Marc did. Besides everything else he is compassionate and a great financial advisor and planner in general. He's like a dog with a bone. My advice—heed his advice. - Bill Taub