Being married requires that both parties find time to focus on the marriage. If you and your spouse cannot make time for one another, you are likely going to have a rocky marriage. This means that you may have to put some of your educational, social or professional habits aside as you make room in your schedule for your new spouse. If you are not ready to compromise your time, you may not be ready for marriage.

Once you marry someone, the spouse's financial problems become yours. If you are a young professional woman with a good sense of budgeting and are great at managing your money, you may want to take a careful look at the financial situation you will be creating by getting married. While finances should not take precedence over love and compassion, it is important to understand what will happen to your budget once you sign the marriage document.

While spousal abuse is not specific to marriage and can be directed against men as well as women, it is particularly dangerous when it occurs between a married couple. Married women who suffer spousal abuse will find that separating from their partner will require months of legal work and could end up costing a large sum of money -- on top of any emotional damage that's incurred. If your boyfriend shows any signs of emotional or physical abuse, get out of the relationship and do not agree to be married.

When you marry, you lose the ability to make decisions for yourself. While you can still make minor decisions on your own, large decisions like having children, taking a vacation or moving to a new city will have to be joint operations. If a decision is made to have children, you can count on losing a significant portion of your work life unless your husband has decided to stay home and help. While professional moms are more common now than ever, child care still falls largely in the hands of the mother.