YOUNG ADULTS GET THE 411 OF PERSONAL FINANCE
IN PBS’ YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY
Real-Life Money Management Special Hosted by Donald Faison and Featuring Hip Hop Entrepreneur Russell Simmons Premieres Wednesday, September 9 at 9 PM, ET/PT
With America’s recession deepening, young people are in the worst financial trouble in more than a generation: New college graduates face the highest unemployment rate in 25 years, record student loan debt (and record defaults), prohibitively expensive health insurance costs, and an average of $4,100 in credit card debt. The groundbreaking new program YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY empowers young adults to get their financial lives on track – even if they barely have finances at all.
Hosted by Donald Faison (Scrubs, Clueless), and featuring insights from hip hop icon Russell Simmons and R&B/pop singer D.Woods (Danity Kane), this engaging one-hour special provides vital, relatable information on everything from banking and credit, to investments, budgeting, insurance and self-employment. With compelling real-life stories of young people finding their way through a variety of economic challenges, the programaddresses an urgent demand for forthright financial advice in a pivotal stage of life. YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY premieres Wednesday, September 9 at 9 pm ET/PT on PBS.
“I think it is important for all young adults to educate themselves on their finances,” host Donald Faison says. “I am happy to be a part of something that brings attention to this subject for those just starting out.”
YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY tells the stories of six diverse young people who are facing the many challenges that come with making, managing, and getting the most out of money. Subjects include: Min Lwin, a recent college graduate starting out in Chicago; Amanda McCormick, aFlorida college senior facing $30,000 of credit card debt; Tim Bouchard, a freelance graphics and web designer in Buffalo with his own business; and Maria Cortez and Rochelle James striving to build their financial futures in New York City.
The program also features practical advice from personal finance experts including New York Times best-selling author Beth Kobliner (Get A Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties), financial reporter Ron Lieber (The New York Times), syndicated financial columnist Michelle Singletary (The Washington Post), and other nationally respected financial advisors.
--continued--
YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY offers a broad outreach platform targeting young Americans in the early phases of their lives and careers – just when they need the most help navigating the financial pitfalls and opportunities around them. A major companion websitefeaturing program content and additional resources and activities will be available at pbs.org/yourlifeyourmoney.
Funding for YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY was provided by HSBC in the Community (USA) Inc. Foundation. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., with more than 470 bank branches throughout the United States, including over 380 in New YorkState, focuses its charitable efforts on education and the environment.
YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY is produced for PBS by WNEDBuffalo/Toronto and Working Dog Productions, Inc. (Executive producer: John Grant. Producer/director: Tom Simon. Editor: Dave Velazquez. Writers: Jaime Bernanke and Tom Simon. Host: Donald Faison. Format: CC Stereo Letterbox/HD where available.)
WNED-TV is a leading producer of single-topic documentary programming for national PBS broadcast including: TheAdirondacks, Niagara Falls, The Marines, Window to the Sea, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo and America’s Houses of WorshipandElbert Hubbard: An AmericanOriginal, a program related to the Arts and Crafts Movement to be broadcast in coming months.Also in development are films on The War of 1812, the Underground Railroad, the Chautauqua Institution and the Great Lakes.
###
MEDIA CONTACT:
Nikki Pesusich / Carey Warren, NPPR
/
818.788.7650
STATION RELATIONS:
Gwen Mysiak, WNED
716.845.2202
YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY is available from PBS Home Video: ShopPBS.org; 800-PLAY-PBS, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.