Special presentation: PBS, HSBC tackle financial literacy tonight

It’s not every day we at BankThink get to act as television critics, but today we’re taking our rare chance to give a PBS documentary two thumbs up.

“Your Life, Your Money” premieres on most PBS affiliates, including WNET in New York City, tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. The hour-long program, which was sponsored by HSBC, offers straightforward financial advice on topics from budgeting, credit cards and student loans to taxes, health insurance and retirement savings.

The documentary is hosted by Donald Faison, who plays Turk on the never-ending sitcom “Scrubs,” and includes advice from personal-finance experts like Beth Kobliner, Michelle Singletary, Ron Lieber and the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. (His RushCard, a high-profile and high-cost prepaid card, is not mentioned.)

But the documentary’s most engaging highlights are its profiles of six adults who are starting, or restarting, their professional and financial lives. For example, one segment follows Rochelle James, a New Yorker who overcame debt and the financial stress caused by her mother’s death by becoming a union electrician. (She now earns $47 an hour.)

Her story - and the documentary’s overall message about the importance of financial literacy - seemed to resonate with its target audience, at least judging by the response at a screening in New York City last night. HSBC invited members of groups like the Citizens Committee for New York City, the Harlem Children's Zone, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, the Financial Women's Association, and City Year New York to attend.  

Those audience members, who ranged from elementary school to college age and beyond, stayed around for a panel discussion after the screening last night, asking questions about financial basics until almost 9 p.m.  (We will note that HSBC did provide incentives in the form of piggy banks for question-askers – not to mention the snacks before and after the screening.)

We know she’s biased, but we tend to agree with the review of Heather Nesle, an HSBC vice president of community and philanthropic services. “The show doesn’t come off as preachy,” she said after the screening last night. “It’s actually very entertaining, even if you’re watching it as an adult.”