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 program addresses 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, a
Florida 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.
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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 website featuring 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 York State, focuses its charitable efforts on education
and the environment.
YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY is produced for PBS by WNED Buffalo/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: The Adirondacks, Niagara Falls, The Marines, Window to the Sea, Frank
Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo and America’s Houses of Worship and Elbert Hubbard: An American
Original, 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.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Nikki Pesusich / Carey Warren, NPPR
nikki@nppr.net / carey_warren@nppr.net
818.788.7650
STATION RELATIONS:
Gwen Mysiak, WNED
gmysiak@wned.org
716.845.2202
YOUR LIFE, YOUR MONEY is available from PBS Home Video: ShopPBS.org; 800-PLAYPBS, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.