Treat Yourself Like
A Business In 2012

W

ell, another year is behind
us — but more impor-
tantly (and thankfully) —
another year is ahead of us. Assuming
the Mayans are wrong and we don't
otherwise self-destruct on
a global scale, it is time
to appraise where we are
from a financial standpoint.
The Great Recession has
changed the landscape of
personal finance. You now
need to look long term and
multi-generational when it
comes to finance.
There are many issues. If
you're financially sound and
up in your years, what will
happen if you die and leave
your estate to your grown children if
they are in financial distress? What
about you? If you have real estate
underwater and you die, will the mort-
gage companies be able to satisfy their
claim from the other assets in your
estate — or have you protected them?
Now let's look at your parents. Are
they financially strapped, living on
Social Security and struggling with
debt obligations? I find that many
elderly people are exhausting their
IRAs and last dollar of savings to pay
credit card bills. They keep paying,
month after month, and then when
their savings have been depleted to
$2,500, they realize it is a problem.
That's a big mistake. If you're elderly
and your monthly living expenses and
debt obligations exceed your income,
you need to take action to get rid of
the debt. You need to make sure you
have money for food, clothing and
prescriptions.
How about your situation? Are you
underwater on your home? Are you
saddled with more than $30,000 in
credit card debt and making mini-

Aid Options Available
For College Students
JVS will host a Parent Information
Meeting about the Jewish
Educational Loan Service (JELS) and
additional financial aid options for
college students at 7 p.m. Thursday,
Feb. 2, at the Hermelin ORT Resource
Center in the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield.
During the meeting, JELS coordi-
nator Marvin Berman will explain
how to apply for an interest-free
JELS loan and discuss the availability

mum payments on debt that is carry-
ing 19.9 to 29.9 percent interest? You
should stop and say to yourself, "How
much better off will I be if I get rid
of the credit card debt and my house
that is underwater?" In my
view, this is not a question
of whether you can afford
to make the payments. Of
course, if you've sustained a
hit to your income and can-
not service the debt then
you must take action to get
rid of it.
I'm focused, however, on
a broader issue. Assuming
you can afford to make the
payments, the question is,
"Should you?" My answer
is no. If a plan can be devised to rid
yourself of the debt — a house under-
water or excess credit card debt —
then that is exactly what you should
do.
The recent American Airline bank-
ruptcy is a prime example. AA filed
with $4 billion in the bank because,
as a business, they recognized that
they could improve their long-term
financial position by filing and getting
rid of certain obligations. Look long
term. If you can get rid of the debt and
have your money go "in the bank" as
savings and not "to the bank" as pay-
ments, in 20 years, you will have hun-
dreds of thousands in savings rather
than a mere pittance. For 2012, start
thinking about your future, and take
action in your interest. Treat yourself
like a business and make capitalism
work for you. ❑

UP TO

JANUARY

GUYS GALS

Mon.,Tues.,Wed. Fri. 10-6 • Thurs. 10-8 • Sat. 10:00-5:30 • Sunday 12:00-4:00

f 248-851-1260

Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav Gross

and host of The Financial Crisis Talk
Center, a radio program that airs weekly

at 10 a.m. Saturday on Talk Radio 1270
WXYT AM.

of financial assistance through fed-
eral, state, institutional and private
sources.
The meeting is directed toward
parents, but students are welcome to
attend. To register or for information,
contact Marvin Berman, (248) 233-
4209 or email mberman@jvsdet.org.
JELS is open to Metro Detroit
area Jewish residents and is admin-
istered through JVS, Hebrew Free
Loan and the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. ❑

UPTOWN

SHANGRI-LA

AUTHENTIC CHINESE CUISINE

6407 Orchard Lake Road

(15 Mild & Orchuircl 1,(11(0)

248.626.8585

www.uptownshangrilchcom

January 12 • 2012

23