Give the Money to the Kids — Now!

It was a complete surprise. A $5,000 check shows up in the mail from Ray, my father-in-law. Man, was his timing good! I was twenty-five and needed the money badly.

Kathy and I were married for a year and a half when the check showed up. Here's why the timing was so good.

The short answer was, I got us into debt. Not serious debt, but 24% credit card debt …