{popin}My younger brother let me listen a few tracks of an album by popular hip-hop artist, Kanye West one day when I was in his car. On the few tracks I listened to, Kanye was basically poking fun of the fact that a growing number of college graduates emerge with nothing more than a retail job at the mall and have not become more marketable. But they could still be proud because, after all, they still have their degree.

Does West have a point? Is it really worth the effort of going through four years of college? Will college graduates be able to reasonably justify the costs of higher education, and if so when? And if it isn’t worth it, at what point in tuition level does it become worth it? Statistics show that tuition rates have risen by 439% since 1982, far surpassing the inflation rate. Even with all the recent uproar about fuel prices, it still is not even half of the increase in tuition. In addition to this, federal grants have consistently been decreasing while students and parents of students continue to take on huge amounts of debt to either land that raise or higher-paying job.

There are a couple things that happened with me recently that made me think about medical costs within the Black community as it pertains to money (Hence, the title of this article.)

The first instance occurred one Friday night as some family and friends watched Tyler Perry’s DVD, “Whats Done in the Dark”.  There is an undertone in the play that encourages the viewer to make sure they schedule regular check-ups with the doctor, incorporating a number of particular tests like prostate screenings and mammograms.  But there is a line in the play from Mr. Brown (still don’t know his first name) that had me cracking up (and thinking).  He said, “Cora, we all know that Black men don’t go to the doctor because they need to be at work, making sure they’re making money.”  And when asked, what if they’re sick, he replies, “They don’t need to know that, ‘cause if they do then they can’t work and pay they bills!”.   The truth is, we as a people, can’t afford, not to be checked out regularly.  There are a number of diseases that plague our community that if detected early enough, can be preventable and treatable, most of the time.  Some of which are diabetes, high blood pressure, prostate disease, and hypertension.

Women, in addition to spending hours poring over encyclopedic bridal magazines, I wish you would spend that same amount of time with your future spouse talking over these important points before you decide if you two should get married at all. In twenty years, the veil you selected will not come up in a fight with your true love, but the checking account surely will.

Here are some decisions to make before you decide if you will marry this person. It all comes down to priorities and expectations. Even if you don’t share the exact same priorities, if you have openly discussed them with each other, then you can manage the expectations each of your have for the marriage.

Joint Bank Accounts: I have heard many opinions on this question. The most important thing is to talk about it and make a conscious decision about it. My husband and I share all accounts and financial information with each other. I think this helps us work as a team as we save for the future and even as we buy groceries for this week. We remain accountable to each other at all times which can cause some tough conversations but serves us well in the end. I think that some couples who keep separate money just don’t want to have the discussions it would take to make joint decisions. If you don’t go deeply into these issues, you don’t allow each other to have input into, much less buy in to, the life goals that you need to share in order to move effectively toward them.