Your Life, Your Money

Americans 20 to 29 years old carry an average debt of $16,120, and earn comparatively less in wages than their parents did when they were young. Those sobering facts are at the heart of the informative PBS documentary Your Life, Your Money, hosted by Donald Faison (Scrubs). Subtitled Empowering Young Adults to Get Their Money Right, the program draws its strength from real-life stories, such as hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons giving back by teaching money-management skills and R&B singer D. Woods (Danity Kane) moving in with her mother to streamline her finances. Interviews feature young people who have made both good and bad financial decisions, while a combination of expert talking heads and animated sequences offer advice on a variety of topics, including choosing a bank, credit cards, student loans, credit reports and scores, hidden costs and fees, taxes, saving, 401(k)s, the importance of insurance, and the magic of compound interest. It's an impressive amount of information to stuff into an hour's presentation, all of it provided clearly. The bottom line: Don't spend money you don't have. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Gardner)