Un-Broke

At the end of May, I talked about the preview video I saw of Seth Green in the upcoming feature “Unbroke” which talks about good financial decisions in a…….more down-to-earth tone.

Seth Green’s clip was about buying a house you can afford, which I thought was brilliantly done. He also touched on buying a used but financially friendly vehicle, buying items off craiglist instead of brand new, and keeping an emergency fund.

Watching the full feature, with stars like Will Smith, Antonio Banderas, Cedric the Entertainer, Samuel L. Jackson…I’m really happy to see people that the majority of society seems to “look up to” trying to get across the right message.

Will Smith’s message was mainly about ignoring the media’s charts and bogus input that make people panic and confused.

Antonio mainly focused on how uneducated children are about finances when they leave the nest.

Cedric the Entertainer talked about how people look at credit as the easy way out, when in reality it builds a nagging relationship instead of a clean exchange like cash would. He also talked about only needing one card, instead of some of the people they interviewed who had like 10!. He also went on about sub-prime mortgages and how people just buy larger than they need because the banks manipulate the people into thinking they can afford what they can’t.

(On a personal note here, I was approved for well over $200k for a house by various lenders, but there’s no way I could have afforded that. I’m glad I figured it out on my own and then told -them- what amount I wanted a loan for).

Marisa Tomei and Antonio talk more about emergency funds and how important that is for a person.

The E-trade babies naturally gave input on stocks and bonds and how there’s no quick-rich way with either, both being long-term investments.

They brought the Jonas Brothers in to talk about the different stock markets, NASDAQ, Dow Jones, and S&P 500 (I actually learned from this one, cause I really don’t follow any of that).

Oscar the Grouch followed up on the stock markets with investing when the stocks are low, and people who panic and get rid of their stocks when they are low and that people need to be patient and think in the long-term.

Christian Slater touches on 401k plans and free money with company matches.

Of course they saved Samuel L. Jackson for last, and he tells a story (as a character) about being “Broke as Hell, and not gonna take it anymore”. Mainly focusing on being honest and waking the hell up.

If you’re interested (and you should be), [Watch Un-Broke!] (or just search for Un broke on Hulu.com.