Podcast of the May 12, 2012 Show – Word of the Day “Opps” – Chase’s $2 Billion Blunder, Case Studies for the Elderly and Debt Issues

CLICK HERE FOR PODCASTS

News on Detroit & Financial Manager *** Steve Hood joins Ken Gross on The Financial Crisis Talk Center on 3/31/12

Host of Detroit Wants to Know, the popular local TV show airing Sundays at 11:30 AM – On WADL TV 38 – joined Ken Gross and David Einstandig live in the 1270 Talk Radio Studio on Saturday March 31, 2012 for a candid look at the Detroit Fiscal Financial Crisis. Hood – identified Detroit’s problem as being poor management – from the current Bing Administration and dating back to the Colman Young era – where while there was controversy, Hood indicates there was competent management in place.  No stone was left unturned in this 1 hour broadcast – how race is a factor to some and how core services for the City is a factor to all of its residents. You can catch the broadcast via podcast – Podcast of FCTC 3/21/12 Show

Your Credit Score – Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

I know you’ve heard it before – “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” This truism applies to every facet of our lives. We often make the mistake of over dramatizing issues in our personal relationships – between spouses, between partners and between parents and children. Most of the time – it’s a situation where for one reason or another, we allow the moment or the event to take on greater significance than we should. In personal matters – this often gives rise to hurt feelings, family quarrels and anguish. From one event to the next, the mistake is commonly repeated until we learn or experience a greater trauma that causes us to snap back to reality. We say to ourselves – “Gee, I have to chill out and just be thankful for the boring, mundane days when there is nothing monumental and adverse going on in my life.” The lesson – don’t let the “small stuff” govern your life.

I find this issue also arises frequently in the context of how people assess their financial situation and the options presented to them when it comes to strategies to shed debt and preserve future income. In this instance, what is the “small stuff?” The “small stuff” in the context of shedding debt and preserving future income is “your credit score.” Let me repeat – the “small stuff” is your credit score. There are differing views. The banking industry wants you to believe that your credit score is “your most valued asset” – and that your world will crumble if your credit score tumbles. It is true that if  you short sale a home, go through a foreclosure, file a bankruptcy or settle your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar – your credit score will take a hit. The fallacy is – in the context of the gain you will realize by getting out from under debt and the outrageous never ending interest – the credit score is a short term decline that is insignificant in the context of the big picture.

I tell clients, over and over, “When you’re 75, would you rather have lived your last 30 years with a 790 credit score and have $40,000 in the bank to retire along with the paltry social security you will receive or would it be better if your credit score took a 75-100 point hit for about  1 ½ years, and at 75 you have $950,000 in saving to live off of with social security? The numbers are simple – if you pay off $100,000 of debt at $2,500 per month with interest at 26%, you will pay $235,000 over the 94 month period.  Instead, if you could settle this debt for $30,000, by using the$ 2,500 per month you would pay the first year, and then invest $2,500 per month for each of the next 82 months, tax deferred at 6%, you will have $300,566. If you then allow this savings to accumulate for another 10 years, you will have $546,849. Better yet, if you continue to save $2,500 per month during the last 10 years, you will have $958,596. This is “big stuff.”

Being afraid to make the right move because of concern over your credit score, is worse than “sweating the small stuff” – it’s letting the “small stuff” steal your future. You still need to plan. For example, if you have a short term need for credit – such as buying a car – then buy the car before making your move. In all events, you should  resist the effort to be brainwashed by an industry that earns billions advancing this myth. Simply look at the numbers – that’s the big stuff and plan your future.

Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav Gross and host of The Financial Crisis Talk Center, a radio program that airs weekly at 10:00 AM on Saturday mornings on Talk Radio 1270 WXYT AM.Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (2.1.12)

Is Our Nation’s Future in Jeopardy?

Nation’s Future 10.13.11DetroitJewishNews-1 (Column appearing in Jewish News – 10-13-11)

Is Our Nation’s Future In Jeopardy?

Ken Gross

October 13, 2011

Many of us marvel at and are frustrated by the troubling economic problems of the era. Without question, these are serious problems and the prospect of a short-term solution is dim. We have suffered horrific losses to our net worth — by virtue of the real estate freefall and a recession that, for all intents and purposes, is starting its third year. We wonder and debate — what should we do as individuals and as a nation?

In recent weeks, I’ve pondered the future of our nation as I witness a deploable commitment to partisan politics and deadlock among our elected representatives. I say to myself,“As a nation we are only 235 years in existence. The Roman Empire lasted more than 2,000 years before its arrogance claimed its lifeline. What chance do we have?” At first blush — my conclusion — “It’s not looking good.” Last week, I happened to watch the newly released miniseries The Kennedys and gained a different perspective. I was reminded of the turbulent ’60s — the fight against communism, the battle over civil rights, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and our loss of cherished leaders who stood for principle beyond economics — Jack, Bobby and Dr. King. I realized that other than the era beginning post-Vietnam and abruptly ending on Sept. 11, 2011, we have been at war, on its verge or just beyond its conclusion, or in the midst of some form of economic trauma or civil rights controversy for our entire history. Ultimately, we face and overcome these problems, and it is usually because leaders emerge that have the guts to stand for what is right and are able to overcome those who seek to perpetuate the mistakes of the past.

As we age, we gain the benefit of experi-ence, as well as the knowledge that our insight and what we know is limited by our experience — which also applies to our elected representatives and pro-claimed political leaders. So what do these revelations mean and how to they bear upon the financial crisis? Since controversy is part of our American way of life, we should embrace it rather than fear it. We must question those in authority that demonstrate an unwillingness to seek new solutions and simply continue to preach unsupported claims of the past. We need to take such action that we can to improve our situation — and we need to take such action based upon the current times without regard to what others think is the right thing to do. Individually, this means looking at opportunities to recoup the losses sustained as a result of the economic disaster that has ensued, by shedding debt and seizing opportunity. As a country, the time is now for leadership — for someone to emerge that fears not what to say because of political expediency — a leader who can reach to our nation’s soul and carve a path that addresses what is best for our future.

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. Saturdays on WXYT 1270 “Talk Radio.”

The Opportunity Exists – Ken Gross Column – Jewish News – Sept 8, 2011

This applies to so many — but you need to recognize it and act on it!

The Opportunity Exists AL (9.8.2011)

Podcast of May 28st Show – Word of the Day – "Uneasy" – Why you should not use a National Tax Service

CLICK HERE FOR PODCASTS

Ken Gross named Michigan Leaders in the Law 2011

http://milawyersweekly.com/news/2011/02/28/kenneth-l-gross-leaders-in-the-law-2011/

Michigan Lawyers Weekly

Kenneth L. Gross – Leaders in the Law 2011

POSTED: 02:16 PM Monday, February 28, 2011
BY: Edward Wesoloski, Esq.
TAGS: 2011 Leaders in the Law

Kenneth L. Gross
photo by Mark Bialek

Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett, P.C., Bingham Farms
Education: Wayne State University Law School, 1982
Specialty: Financial crisis management, business law, estate planning

Kenneth L. Gross, co-founding shareholder of Thav, Gross, Steinway & Bennett, P.C., puts a lot of people back on their feet after they’ve had the financial rug pulled from underneath them.

In the process, he’s evolved the law practice that he and Charles Thav founded 29 years ago, the day after Gross graduated from law school.

For many years, he said, Thav Gross “was a normal business practice.” The bulk of the work was mergers, new companies, contracts and commercial disputes.

Then, in 2008, the national economy melted down, unemployment shot up, and the real estate market crashed.

“A lot of people connected to the real estate market were put out of work,” Gross said.

In response, he led the firm to a new type of practice: financial crisis management.

“We had a tax collection defense and bankruptcy practice, so we rechanneled the focus and expanded it from a standpoint of what’s going on the economy,” he explained.

“The real estate developers, the mortgage brokers, the trade workers, the suppliers — all those people have suffered horrendous losses as a result of the housing crisis. They’re fighting for survival. They’re trying to save their homes. They’re trying to figure out how to put food on the table.”

This troubled Gross. He also was frustrated by “the arrogance and the lack of practically the banking industry has displayed with regard to the mortgage crisis.”

When homeowners are underwater with their mortgage and their income drops, “it would make more sense to renegotiate the principal and let the people stay in there,” he said.

“But the lending market and the banking industry absolutely refuses to recognize any concept of principal reduction.”

So Gross views his advocacy as if “it’s almost a war, an ‘us versus them’ mentality in terms of the banking industry.”

But, he added, “what’s incredibly interesting is all of the possible ways to improve a bad situation that we’ve learned by doing.”

Gross’ approach is to assess a client’s particular circumstances and determine which creative combination of the available tools — bankruptcy, debt settlement, loan modification, short sale tax relief — will work best to resolve the client’s problems.

This approach has worked well for his clients in many instances.

Gross’ business strategy has worked well for his firm.

Due to the slow economy, fewer clients seek “pure” business services and many more clients seek help with their personal financial circumstances.

Gross is invigorated by the shift in focus, saying, “I used sit there sometimes and say, ‘Is there any good that I do as a lawyer?’

“When I’m engaged from a pure business standpoint, I’m doing good for my client. But when you start moving into this financial crisis area, where you’re trying to help and solve people’s problems on a long-term basis, it is more inspiring and in some respects it’s more fun.

“I think I’m more charged-up about practicing law now than I’ve ever been,” he said.

Though he admitted feeling guilty at times about being too impatient to bring about the result he’s after, “I’ve learned over the course of time that you need some level of impatience to stay on track.”
By Ed Wesoloski, Esq.

Ken Gross to appear on Detroit Wants to Know – WADL TV 38 – Xmas Day

Ken Gross along with Robin Thompson, from Budge Wise Consulting are guests Christmas Day  on  Steve Hood’s new hot show Detroit Wants to Know. Tune in at 7:30 PM on Saturday, December 25th – Channel 38 – WADL TV Detroit

Catch Ken Gross Interviewed by Alisa Zee from Sunday 12/3 Radio FM/AM

Listen here  to Aliza Zee – The Alisa Zee Fan Club ‘s interview of  Ken Gross from The Financial Crisis Talk Center on the current state of the Financial Crisis – Banks, houses underwater and credit card debt are covered.  This interview aired on Sunday, December 5, 2010 on on WOMC, WYCD, WXYT-AM, 97.1 and 98.7 AMP – Part 1 Part 2

Ken Gross Interviewed by the Examiner.com – Detroit

Check out Lori William’s interview of Ken Gross in the Examiner – Will Santa Bring an end to the Housing Crisis for Christmas?