Certified Financial Planner Brian Gilder has been featured in many of my radio and TV reports over the years, including my reports on KCAL-TV Channel 9 and KFWB Radio.  He is best known for his straight talk, and putting complex financial issues into simple language. 

Contact him at (310) 804-3767.  His office is at 8383 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 240, Beverly Hills, California 90211. 

Here, we are presenting his videos about various financial challenges that families face including college savings, and dealing with credit debt, and estate planning, and  investing in annuities, and his thoughts about the financial bail out plans from Congress and his throughts about investing in the stock market.  Please note that many of these videos were conducted more than a year ago, but much of the advice is still appropriate today.  You should always ask about current conditions because that can affect your planning.

These days most families are finding that their credit card balances are going up, while their credit lines are getting cut, and interest rates and monthly payments are unmanageable.  So what do you do to deal with credit card debt?  Brian Gilder says you have to attack your credit card balances one card at a time.  And he says to attack the card with the smallest balance first, regardless of the interest rate on that credit card.  Click on the video below to watch his discussion with Consumer Reporter Alan Mendelson about his strategy.

Is an annuity right for you?  How much of your money should be tied up in annuities?  What are the different types of annuities?  Do you know what time horizon you need to make annuities the right investment for you?  Do you know about commissions and fees that companies and investment advisors charge when they sell you an annuity?  Certified Financial Planner Brian Gilder tackles these issues when he discusses key facts about an annuity investment.  Watch the video below for a discussion about the pros and cons of an annuity.

There is so much talk about a financial bail out to rescue the economy from recession.  But does Congress have the right idea?  Certified Financial Planner Brian Gilder says Congress should rethink its stimulus plans and Gilder says some cuts now in our tax withholding would make more sense and put more dollars into our economy faster.  He also suggests tha tthe capital gains tax rates should be adjusted to reward long term investors.  He also has some caution about the stock market.  Frankly, he says the stock market is not the place for you to invest unless you can put your money into the stock market for a minimum of ten years.  The exception might be tax advantaged stock market investments including 401(k) plans and IRA plans.  Watch the video below for a discussion between Brian Gilder and financial reporter Alan Mendelson about the stock market and how you should be investing or not investing in the stock market now.