Our couple is losing sight of the important goal of risk management. The responsibility of a child should drive them toward, not away from, insurance. A universal policy, bought early in life, can be a wealth builder. No, I would not suggest cashing out. Tighten your belt and hold tight to your dreams.
Life is long.
There is plenty of time to make home improvements and to pay off debts. Marc and Joyce can create a debt management program with the help of Quicken or other similar software. Meanwhile, the card goes in the vault. They learn to live on the salary at hand. It will take a few New Year's resolutions, but they can do it.