The most common method used for Vertical Handoff (VH) is the Strongest Signal First (SSF) method. In this technique, when there is a choice of multiple attachment points, the one that gives the Mobile Node (MN) the strongest signal is chosen. While it is simple and effective, the SSF method does not consider factors such as traffic load in the network, battery lifetime of the MNs and the cost of handoff. In this paper, we propose an optimized handoff decision algorithm that balances the load across all the attachment points, maximizes the collective battery life of the MNs and reduces the cost of handoff. We focus on the handoff between WLAN and Cellular Network. © 2005-2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.