Total Financial Solutions President/CEO Arif Halaby is talking about a few practical things he believes you should consider before deciding where you want to retire.

“It could be here, of course, in Santa Clarita or California. It could be anywhere,” said Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner. “Some say, ‘Oh, I hate the hot weather,’ some, ‘I love the hot weather.’ … So each of us have a different need in retirement.”

Halaby recommends doing your homework and “scouting out” a variety of aspects of where you’re considering retiring before finalizing any plans, including amenities, distance to the nearest major hospital and airport, outdoor activities and the views of the locals.

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“The idea that you’re just going to pick a place that looked beautiful in a brochure or online and then just go park there and buy a house or whatever it is that you’re going to do, that’s not realistic,” said Jeff Girard, Halaby’s co-host on “Total Financial Solutions Safter Money Hour” on KHTS.

Distance to amenities, ranging from entertainment to small and big box stores alike, are an important factor when you’re considering moving to a small town or rural area.

Girard himself temporarily relocated to a rural part of the midwest years ago, and noted that he never realized what the phrase “going to town” meant until that move.

“We lived out in the country, and we had to go to town to go to the store,” he said. “If you wanted to go to a big box store, we had to consider, okay do we have an ice chest to take back some of the things that might perish along the way? So I think amenities are a big part.”

Proximity to a major hospital is also critical, particularly if health issues run in your family, according to Halaby.

“You might say, ‘Oh, we’re 58, 63, we’re good,’” he said. “No, you have to think much larger than that.”

When it comes to outdoor activities, Girard advised keeping in mind that the idea of moving near a lake and getting a boat might seem great at first, but unless you’re a die-hard boater, you probably won’t want to be out on the lake every single day.

“The things that are right in our backyard, we tend to kind of ignore in some cases,” he said, referencing nearby amusement parks or visiting Hollywood for Santa Clarita residents.

Distance to a major airport is another thing to consider, especially if you have family spread out around the country, according to Halaby.

“The chances of my five kids living all in the same place when they grow up and find their way in life and have careers and spouses and their own lives, it’s pretty slim,” Girard said. “Going far away to a major airport so that you can get to some of these destinations to visit your family, that’s a big deal.”

“I’d like you to be 30 minutes (from) the airport that will get you to any place in the United States with no more than one stop, because realistically you generally are going to have to fly to a hub,” Halaby added.

To easily identify distance to amenities, hospitals, airports and outdoor activities, Halaby recommends finding the locations you’re considering spending your retirement on a map and drawing a 30-mile radius around it.

“You can actually go online and hit ‘radius map’ in your search engine,” Halaby said. “Now inside of that radius, is there a hospital that’s reasonable? … Is that a region that gives me the type of weather that I want? Is that a region that has the shopping that I need to do and the tax brackets (I want)?”

Once your potential retirement locations are narrowed down, Halaby advises visiting them to get a feel for the area, the weather, the housing and the people.

“Go to the local mom-and-pop (businesses) and talk to the guys that are there every day,” he said. “That will give you an idea of what matters to those folks. It will give you an idea of where the problems are.”

Once you think you’ve found a solid location for your retirement, Halaby and Girard believe you should rent a place there for 6-12 months before committing to something longer term, like a house purchase.

“I think it’s always prudent to live there in a rent scenario … because you don’t know if you’re going to like it,” Girard said. “And then you have that freedom to pick up and go somewhere else if you don’t like it.”

If you’re planning for your retirement, you can schedule a free consultation with Halaby and his team of financial professionals at Total Financial Solutions, who can help you design a higher income strategy, protect your principal and lock in your gains, all while securing reliable income for retirement.

“Your retirement income and your assets are the tools that are designed to pay the bills,” Halaby said. “You also need to have bills and expenses as low as they can possibly be. That will help you be able to live the life that you dream from a retirement standpoint.”

Total Financial Solutions offers assistance with preparing for retirement in Santa Clarita and the surrounding valleys. Santa Clarita financial professional Arif Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner, and Total Financial Solutions staff work with people of all ages, helping them protect, grow and preserve their assets through an individualized approach. As a well-known financial professional, Arif Halaby is also the host of “Total Financial Solutions Safer Money Hour” on KHTS AM-1220. Launched in 2004, the show offers listeners retirement planning tips and guidance for dealing with today’s ever-changing financial needs.  

Total Financial Solutions, Inc.

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Newhall, CA 91321

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800-990-7344

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Arif Halaby, Total Financial Solutions, Financial Planning, Planning for Retirement, Retirement Planning