Whether you’ve got skeletons in your financial closet or just need a little guidance, Alison Griffiths wants you to let it all out on-air.
Griffiths, a financial journalist and host of W Network’s Maxed Out, will host Dollars & Sense, a live call-in show aimed at making money less intimidating by discussing it in a casual, live setting.
“This isn’t the business channel — this is me at your dining room table,” Griffiths said.
Griffiths promises the call-in format will lead to highly specific and practical advice.
“It’s an objective forum where people can exchange ideas. There’ll be a lot of depth to it and a lot of very specific information and tips,” Griffiths said.
The premiere episode hopes to hit back at the financial crisis by featuring Philip Brown of Credit Canada doing a primer on how to get out of debt, while other weeks will have similar experts taking calls on everything from taxes and savings to RRSPs and investments.
Callers will have an opportunity to ask tough questions and share their own misadventures in a constructive setting meant to get at the root of money problems.
“The problem with money is many times we don’t learn from our mistakes because we don’t know what the lesson was,” Griffiths said.
Understanding what you did wrong financially can be difficult because, as the recent market meltdown has shown, the inner workings of money can be far more labyrinthine than most people imagine.
“There’s nothing more confusing than money. It’s so complicated that even the experts don’t understand it,” Griffiths said.
Worse yet, dealing with money can be an emotional experience because money is often tied to people’s family life, goals, and dreams. “If you think about it, money is the only thing that accompanies us from cradle to grave,” Griffiths said.
Dollars & Sense premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on VIVA and W Network
