Daniel Zakharov Says Your Emotions Cost You Twice What Markets Do By Daniel Zakharov

You’re losing money right now, and it has nothing to do with market performance.

During the 2018 market corrections, the average investor lost twice as much as the FTSE 100 index itself. The market dropped. But panic selling doubled the damage.

Your brain evolved to detect threats and run from predators. Useful for survival. Disastrous for wealth building.

The problem isn’t what you know about investing. It’s what you can’t process when your portfolio drops 20% in a week.

The Processing Gap You Can’t Bridge

Investment decisions require analysing two completely different data streams simultaneously.

Technical investors read charts, study price patterns, track moving averages. They see the math.

Intuitive investors follow company news, merger announcements, industry shifts. They see the story.

You’re probably good at one. Maybe decent at both separately. But your brain can’t hold fundamentals and technicals in working memory at the same time while your retirement account bleeds red.

AI doesn’t have this limitation.

It triangulates across both data streams instantly. Charts say sell. Company fundamentals say hold. Your investment horizon is 15 years. The algorithm forecasts recovery in 2-3 years based on historical pattern matching across thousands of similar scenarios.

Recommendation: Hold.

You would have sold. The emotional override was already firing. AI caught the mistake before you made it.

The Life-Event Variable Most Investors Ignore

Traditional risk tolerance questionnaires ask basic questions. Age. Income. Time horizon. How much volatility makes you uncomfortable.

But life doesn’t operate on questionnaires.

Your daughter’s university fund needs to be liquid in five years. Your mother might need residential care. You’re considering a career change that requires postgraduate tuition.

AI banking systems triangulate on these life events you haven’t even mentioned yet.

The profiling goes deeper than traditional finance. Family structure. Health data from your insurance provider. Professional trajectory. Lifestyle patterns that signal upcoming major expenses.

When technical signals scream “sell” during a downturn, the AI knows your university fund timeline. It knows liquidating now locks in losses you can’t afford. It knows your actual liquidity needs three years out.

It matches investment horizon to life events with precision your financial advisor can’t achieve manually.

The Data Collection You Already Accepted

You’re worried about AI knowing your health data and family tree.

Your life insurance company already has this information. Your health insurance provider tracks your medical history. Your beneficiary forms document your family structure.

AI banking combines data you’ve already shared across financial services. It’s not new surveillance. It’s integrated analysis of existing information.

The insurance industry has been profiling risk this way for decades. The difference? Insurance companies use that data to deny coverage or increase premiums.

AI banking uses the same data to protect your financial interests.

Whose Side Is The Algorithm On?

Here’s the critical distinction most people miss.

AI financial advisors optimise for the institution’s profit. They’re sales tools dressed as guidance systems. They push products with higher margins. They protect the company’s interests first.

AI banking is the product itself.

Banks already profit from offering the AI service. Client success becomes institutional success. When your portfolio grows, the bank’s reputation grows. When you avoid losses, you stay loyal.

The incentive structure aligns completely.

This explains why 78% of banks adopted AI tactically in 2025, up from just 8% the year before. The business model works when client protection drives retention.

Good corporate image isn’t just marketing. It’s the foundation of sustainable profit in AI banking.

Your Best Friend Runs On Algorithms

AI banking doesn’t replace human judgement. It fills the gaps in human processing capacity.

You can’t simultaneously analyse technical patterns, fundamental data, and life-event timing while anxiety floods your nervous system during a market crash.

The algorithm can.

It triangulates across data streams you can’t hold in your head at once. It forecasts recovery timelines based on pattern recognition across thousands of historical scenarios. It matches investment decisions to your specific life circumstances.

Most importantly, it removes the emotional override that makes you materialise losses just to feel safe again.

You’re still making the decisions. You’re just making them with humanly impossible foresight.

The question isn’t whether AI will transform how you invest. The transformation already happened. The question is whether you’ll use tools designed to protect your interests or continue competing against investors who feel nothing.

Your emotions will cost you twice what the market does.

Unless you let algorithms catch the mistakes before you make them.

About Daniel Zakharov

Daniel Zakharov is the founder of Buburuza, an AI-native financial infrastructure redefining how value moves and manages itself. With a background that spans art, finance, and system design, Daniel began his career helping global collectors and auction houses transfer high-value assets across borders — where he saw firsthand how outdated and fragmented financial systems still were.