Max Gerstein Independant Financial Advisor

  Why Panic is Your Worst Enemy: What Smart Money is Doing During a Crisis The reality is, market crashes are inevitable. They happen regularly and are often triggered by crises – political conflicts, economic downturns, health scares, you name it. But the real question is: What are the smart investors doing when everyone else is panicking? 1. The Contrarian Mindset: Why Smart Money Buys When Others Are Selling When the market drops, panic ensues. Retail investors scramble to sell off their stocks to “cut their losses.” But the smartest investors view downturns as an opportunity. Historically, market corrections are followed by significant rebounds. Look at the table above — even the worst crashes have recovered impressively over time. If house prices drop, everyone rushes to buy. But when stocks fall, people panic and sell. This irrational behaviour is what separates the wealthy from the average. They see discounts while others see danger. 2. The Danger of DIY Investing and Lack o...

  Most people think a mortgage is just a way to buy a home. Smart investors know it’s one of the most powerful tools for building long-term wealth — no matter where you live. Let’s break it down. What Is a Mortgage, Really? A mortgage is simply a loan to buy property. You put down a deposit — usually 10% to 30% — and a lender covers the rest. You then repay that loan monthly, with interest. But here’s the part most people miss: You’re not just buying a place to live. You’re buying an asset that can grow in value — often with someone else (like a tenant) helping to pay off the loan. That’s where the opportunity begins. The Two Main Types of Mortgages There are two common types: repayment and interest-only . With a repayment mortgage, you pay off both the loan and the interest each month. By the end of the term, you fully own the property. With an interest-only mortgage, you only pay the interest each month — not the loan itself. The full amount is paid off later, usually by sel...

  Markets are volatile right now. Trump's recent policies and announcements have sent shockwaves, prompting investors to panic. It's easy to feel tempted to hit the sell button and run—but here's why that's usually the worst decision you can make. Look at the real-world portfolio chart above. After a sharp fall, the market rapidly rebounded within weeks. Had you sold during the downturn, you would have locked in losses and missed the entire recovery. This isn't speculation; it's historical fact. According to historical data from the S&P 500 between 2006–2021, staying fully invested produced a 10.66% annual return. However, missing just the 10 best days over that period reduced annual returns to just 5.05%. Miss the top 20 days, and that drops further to only 1.59%. If you panic sell, you could miss these critical bounce-back days, permanently damaging your investment growth. Why do we panic during market downturns? When house prices fall, investors see oppor...

  Many of the clients I meet in the UAE look, on the surface, like they’re thriving. They earn high salaries, live in beautiful villas, drive expensive cars, and send their children to the best schools. But once we start unpacking their finances and their mental state a very different story emerges. Recently, a client came to me after working with another firm. On paper, everything seemed perfect: – AED 120,000 per month salary,  45,000 GBP in a tax-efficient structure, fully paid-off home in the UK, Life and critical illness cover already in place, Living in a luxury villa in Dubai. It sounded like a textbook success story. But when we dug into the details, the reality was shocking: £300,000 in credit card debt and £108,000 per year in interest alone Monthly expenses far exceeding income, with no plan to reverse the trend and on track to add another £100,000 to his debt over the next five years if nothing changed For him, the situation felt hopeless. When we sat down, I went t...