Total Financial Solutions President/CEO Arif Halaby is offering three tips for managing your money to help set yourself up for financial success now and in retirement.

The first thing Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner, recommends is tracking your cash flow, which means paying attention to what you’re spending your money on.

Halaby suggests writing down where every dollar of your income goes for one month so you can see how much money you typically spend on food, bills, gas, entertainment, etc.

Related: Total Financial Solutions President/CEO: Don’t Rely On Social Security Alone For Retirement

Once this is done, you can create a budget based on your goals, for today and the future.

“Once you know where your money is going, if you’re able to do everything else that you want to do then great, but otherwise we need a budget,” he said. “Your goal is to say, ‘How do I get to where I want to go?’”

A part of that budget should be allocated toward saving for retirement, which Halaby recommends starting on sooner rather than later.

“Each day that goes by was a missed opportunity for that money to grow and to work for you,” explained Logan Halaby, Halaby’s son.

For instance, if you set aside $1,000 today as opposed to 10 years from now, you have 10 years to earn interest on that money, and even get a tax break if you use a pre-tax retirement account.

“You’re going to have to save big dollars, and by doing so, you can get a tax break today,” Halaby said. “It may not be the right account for you — I’m not saying it is — but you do have to understand there are some benefits to setting aside dollars today.”

The last tip Halaby offered is to create a plan to manage your debt.

“You have been given the last 5 years or so a golden opportunity to manage debt at low interest rates; in other words, refinance things,” Halaby said.

However, Halaby noted debt cannot be managed until you stop going further into debt.

“The very first thing you do is stop charging — you’re just done, you have to stop,” he said. “Then you figure it out. Then go backward and you say, ‘Okay, now what are my habits? What’s leading me down the road?’”

At Total Financial Solutions, Halaby can help you prepare for your retirement by evaluating your individual needs and offering you potential solutions for success.

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.

24322 Main Street

Newhall, CA 91321

661-753-9683

800-990-7344

Total Financial Solutions – Newhall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3IKI5HwMgY

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