Although some aspect of the economy are on the mend, the White House is nevertheless predicting that unemployment will remain at or above 9% until 2012. With unemployment now at 9.5%, all Americans -- those working and those seeking jobs -- should be safeguarding their finances and preparing for "what if" scenarios.

When considering a "what if" scenario, evaluate what could go wrong in your life. Could your health decline? Could your investments go south? Could you go through a divorce? Running a few "what if" scenarios in your head (or on paper) isn't meant to turn you into a Negative Nellie. Instead, it's simply a way for you to better plan for unexpected events that can happen to anyone.

Amid periods of high unemployment, the most pressing "what if" scenario you should think about is: "What if I lose my job or suffer a big reduction in income?" The loss of income can be emotionally and financially trying for anyone. I know, I've been through a downsizing -- and it wasn't particularly pleasant. So even if you think your job is relatively secure, it wouldn't hurt to take some precautionary measures that will shore up your personal finances and reduce your stress in the event of an unforeseen layoff.

I guess this should come as no surprise, but a lot of our tax dollars were recently wasted on executive compensation. According to the Treasury Department's pay czar, 17 banks that received hundreds of billions of federal bailout dollars overpaid their CEOs and top executives.

How much excess cash was lavished on these execs? Try $1.6 billion. Mind you, this was just from the period of October 2008 to February 2009. The reason I say "overpaid" is because under new rules, those payments wouldn't have been allowed to go to these executives.

The single best investment you can make is something most people wouldn't guess: It's investing in yourself. Investing in yourself can make you a millionaire – without having to worry about what the stock market is doing.

How do you invest in yourself? It's S.I.M.P.L.E.:

S – Strive for Perfect Credit
As I explain in my book, 'Perfect Credit: 7 Steps to a Great Credit Rating,' having pristine credit is often better than cash in the bank. With A-1 credit, you get the best rates on car loans, credit cards and mortgages. You also position yourself for good jobs and promotions, since employers are increasingly conducting employment-related credit checks when deciding whom to hire and promote. For loans and career opportunities, having outstanding credit will help you save or earn hundreds of thousands of dollars during your life.

I – Improve your education
Consider earning a degree if you don't have one, because U.S. Labor Department statistics show that college graduates earn 62% more money than high school graduates. Over a lifetime, that translates into a $1 million earnings gap.

M – Make it a lifelong endeavor to increase your knowledge, training and skills
Constantly upgrading your skills makes you more marketable and attractive to employers. Focus on a variety of areas: communication skills, job skills, and technical skills, along with leadership and management skills, too.

Forget about lying, sexual incompatibility or infidelity. The real threat to your relationship may be your (or your partner's) tendency to splurge on things that are outside your budget. As I often explain on Facebook, Twitter and in my financial seminars, the consequences of rampant over-spending -- especially when using credit -- are enormous. Not only are credit card delinquencies, bankruptcies and foreclosures on the rise, debt is even a huge factor in families being split apart.

Studies show that seven out of 10 couples who divorce say that financial strife played a big part in the breakup. If you're married, be honest with yourself for a minute. Have your partner's spending habits or financial patterns ever driven you crazy? Or perhaps you actually need to look in the mirror. Does your way of handling money – maybe buying things that the two of you can't afford – cause friction in the relationship?

It seems like a cruel joke of the universe that so many couples are financial mismatches, with one person being a care-free spender and the other a staunch saver. Perhaps that's why, in a study of 50,000 couples who went through its marriage preparation course, Life Innovations found that 72% of the 100,000 individuals polled said they wished their partners were more careful about spending. Also, 56% said major debts were a problem in the relationship.

I'm a big believer in home ownership. Having your own house can help you build wealth, get tax breaks that aren't available to renters, and create a great financial legacy for generations to come. And with record-low interest rates and real estate prices having fallen in many parts of the country, buying a home is now within reach for millions of people who were previously priced out of the housing market.

I'd be remiss, however, in my duties as a Money Coach if I didn't express one cold, hard reality about homeownership: it's not necessarily for everyone. As a matter of fact, there are some groups of people who probably shouldn't become homeowners – at least not anytime soon.

That might sound odd coming from a proponent of home ownership and the author of a book called Your First Home: The Smart Way to Get It and Keep It, which is designed to help you prepare for, find and finance the home of your dreams. But the fact is, I've also seen people get themselves into trouble unnecessarily by biting off more than they could chew and buying a home before they were truly ready. Read on to discover if you fall into any of the following groups of people. If so, you're probably better off renting, instead of buying a home prematurely.

• You are Mr. or Ms. Entitlement
Do you think the world owes you something? Are you convinced that you could "get ahead in life" if only someone – the government, your boss, and yes, your local banker – just gave you a break? If you have that mentality, chances are you're not ready to become a homeowner. Owning a house is not an automatic right. It's a privilege that is chock full of benefits as well as responsibilities.

I was happy to hear the other day that President Barack Obama is toying with the idea of letting his daughters get babysitting jobs in the not-too-distant future. The President's daughters, Malia and Sasha, are now 12 and 9, respectively.

In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" program, President Obama said: "What I'm doing now with Malia and Sasha is they're getting an allowance. They're starting to get old enough where they may be able earn some money babysitting," the President noted, adding: "They've got their own savings accounts."

One advantage of being the President of the United States is that you've got a huge platform from which you can not only help set the national agenda, you can also set a good example for Americans -- and indeed citizens everywhere.

By talking to his daughters -- and to the public at large -- about Malia and Sasha getting jobs, the President reinforces to everyone that money should be earned, not simply doled out, even in well-to-do families. Kids especially need to understand that money doesn't just magically appear. Sure, some people might inherit money, or marry into it. But most of us have to acquire money the old-fashioned way: by working to earn it.

The technology whizzes in India have come up with a new, low-cost tech toy: a $35 computer that looks like an iPad.

As this AP story notes, India is already known for its ability to crank out cheap products and services -- like the $2,127 Nano car or open-heart surgery for just $2,000.

Now comes along India's new Linux operating-based system computer. It's a tablet that lets you do word processing functions, video conferencing and even web surfing.

If India's government can find a manufacturer for this ultra cheap computer, it hopes to bring it to market in 2011 and target students as primary buyers.

The sweeping financial reform bill that President Barack Obama just signed into law will affect all American consumers for decades to come. But the new legislation is poised to have a particularly significant effect on African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Specifically, four areas of financial reform bear watching for minorities:

1. Regulation of Payday Loans

The financial reform bill will create a powerful consumer advocacy agency, called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will write and enforce rules surrounding nearly all consumer loans, including payday loans. Studies have shown that high-cost payday lenders are most prevalent in minority neighborhoods. These so-called "nontraditional" lenders charge exorbitant interest rates -- often as much as 400 percent annually for short-term loans.

According to a recent FDIC report, more than half of all black households (53 percent) use payday lenders, check-cashing companies or pawn brokers instead of banks. In the Latino community, 43 percent of households use such services. Overall, more than 25 percent of all U.S. households of every background use these services.

While we might quibble with the FDIC's numbers, the fact remains that when minorities and others don't have access to traditional forms of credit -- like bank loans or credit cards -- many, unfortunately, turn to payday lenders. Financial reform will curb some of the abuses common among payday lenders and provide badly needed regulation to this industry.

2. Oversight of Check-Cashing Businesses

Under the financial reform bill, check-cashing outfits will also be regulated. One goal of financial reform is to help bring un-banked or under-banked households into the financial mainstream, and make sure un-banked consumers are not subjected to inordinately high fees or unfair terms when they use nontraditional financial services and products.

Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street's biggest firms, will pay a record $550 million and change its business practices after being accused by federal regulators of misleading investors who bought subprime mortgage investments. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the hefty fine is the largest-ever imposed the SEC. Out of the $550 million to be paid by Goldman, $250 million will be returned to investors and $300 million will be paid to the U.S. Treasury.

The agency cracked down on Goldman because the firm sold mortgage-backed securities -- called CDOs or collaterized debt obligations -- to large groups of investors, while simultaneously failing to disclose to investors that one hedge fund, Paulson & Co., had made huge financial bets that the mortgages would lose value.

That Paulson took what's known as a "short position" against those mortgage investments wouldn't ordinarily have gotten Goldman into trouble. The problem, however, was that Goldman also let Paulson play a key role in picking which mortgage investments would be part of the CDOs -- and Goldman didn't reveal this fact to investors.

A New Jersey man from the West African nation of Togo is behind bars after forcing at least 20 women to work without pay in hair braiding salons. According to the Associated Press, 47-year-old Lassissi Afolabi, a citizen of the Togolese Republic, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison after he admitted to smuggling Togolese women and girls into the U.S. from 2002 through 2007 and making the young women, in effect, modern day slaves at hair salons throughout Newark and East Orange, NJ.

The Star Ledger reported that the women suffered beatings, psychological torture and sexual abuse. A federal judge in Newark described Afolabi's crimes as "horrific" and ordered him to also repay his victims $3.9 million in restitution.