Bill - I will be talking to you more here in a few months about investments, etc. I do stick $$ in CD's and savings for my boys as well - and they have whole life insurance policies, etc (which I may change?). I should be out from under my CC debt as soon as my taxes are done - 3-4 more months of interest, and I should be good to go. My savings account has saved my bacon on a few occasions, particularly during my transition to college - but its getting pretty low now! When I was in the Army, I was debt free and saving $500 a month. Now that I'm a student I'm just trying to break even at some point during the year, but still save $$ for the boys. It would be possible for me to cash in on what I've put aside for them and wipe out my debt now - but its more important for me to have that money set aside for their futures and not even think about playing the "I'll pay them back later when I'm making more money" game, because its unlikely that I'll ever find a good time to pull $8k to replenish their savings!