The stars came together to prove many points in ABC's UN-BROKE: What You Need to Know About Money, and host Mellody Hobson's intermittent interviews with random Americans on the street were evidence that most people need to learn those money lessons. This statistic really stood out: the average American family has $10,000 in credit card debt spread across five high interest cards. If only minimum payments are made, it would take 58 years to pay off the $10,000.
Mellody introduces the special by saying she is boggled that we're not taught about money in school and says, "We've been handed keys to financial futures, but nobody has taught us driver's ed." Viewers are taken through a series of celebrity skits about everything from credit cards and emergency funds to purchasing a home, investing, and retirement savings. Mellody continues to make strong points about the inconsistencies in the way most Americans are raised, and jabs, "Kids leave home learning how to do laundry, but not learning how to use credit cards."
If you missed the Friday night special, check out one of the segments including a clip featuring Marisa Tomei when you read more.
Comme des Garcons
Fat Face
Christian Dior
Where can we watch this?
1My fiance and I are working on a nest egg right now. He should have his car paid off in two years, about the same time we finish saving our "emergency fund" of 3 months of living expenses.
2I can't take celebrities seriously.
3I caught part of the show and found it good, if a little too basic (for me).
There are a few states that require some sort of financial instruction as part of the curriculum. In Illinois my brother had a class in 8th or 9th grade - they had to find a job (realistic middle class), find a place to rent out of the classifieds, buy a vehicle for transportation, and come up with several weeks of meal plans - basically they got an idea of how much things costs and how to budget.
4TidalWave, I'm kind of with you, but to be honest, there are a lot of celebrities that are in a lot of debt as well. Not all of them make it big...look at Ed McMahon, for example. I missed this special, but instead of Marisa Tomei and Will Smith talking about money, why not have celebs that have dealt with financial hardship at some point in their lives talk about things?
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