Once you finish paying for college you could reduce your life insurance.

My grandmother's grandparents were slaves. My grandmother Big Mama would tell me about the stories she heard as a child growing up in the shadows of a North Carolina plantation. It's only been in my lifetime that blacks have had the right to vote, live in certain areas or hold certain jobs. It is with this black history that I write about the financial challenges African-Americans still have.

Many debt collectors offer a lump sum option so ask. And if you get it, make sure it's in writing and you keep the payoff statement FOREVER.

You shouldn't invest the money if you are looking to use it within five years. Too much risk.

A foreclosure does not define you financially.

That's is life. You move and change according to things that happen to you and things that you make happen because of poor choices.

You need to know everything. You both need to be comfortable with sharing everything. If you can't you are NOT ready to get married.