October is Financial Planning Month.

And now that you know it’s Financial Planning Month (just in case you didn’t know before), why not take the opportunity to determine if you’re on the right path toward meeting your financial goals?

Consider taking these steps:

•Identify your goals. To know if you’re making progress toward your goals, you first have to identify them. Of course, you’ll have a variety of goals in life, such as helping to pay for your children’s college educations. More than likely, though, your most important long-term financial goal is to build enough resources to enjoy the retirement lifestyle you’ve envisioned.

But we all have different ideas for how we want to spend our retirement years. Some of us may want to stay close to home, volunteering and pursuing our hobbies, while others want to visit the vineyards of Bordeaux or explore the pyramids of Egypt. So, name your goals and, as much as possible, put a price tag on them. Once you know how much your retirement is going to cost, you can create an investment strategy that may ultimately provide you with the income you will need.

•Don’t underestimate your cost of living. Even after you’ve identified some of your retirement goals, and estimated their costs, you still haven’t developed a complete picture of your future cost of living. You also need to take into account other potential major expenses, such as health care. Once you’re 65, you’ll get Medicare, but that won’t cover all your medical costs – and it might cover only a tiny portion of those expenses connected with long-term care, such as a nursing home stay or services provided by a home health aide. A financial professional can help you explore specific methods of dealing with these types of long-term care costs.

•Locate “gaps” — and work to fill them. After you’ve had your investment strategy in place for a while, you may see that some “gaps” exist. Is your portfolio not growing as fast as it should to help you reach your goals? If not, you may need to review your asset allocation to make sure it is aligned with your risk tolerance and portfolio objective. Do you find that you own too many of the same types of investments? This overconcentration could be harmful to you if a downturn affects one particular asset class, and you own too much of that asset. To help prevent this, be sure to diversify your dollars across a range of investment vehicles. Keep in mind, though, that diversification can’t guarantee a profit or protect against all losses.

•Protect yourself — and your family. Saving for your ideal retirement is certainly a worthy goal, but you have other ones — such as providing for your family in case you aren’t around, or if you become ill or incapacitated and can’t work for a while. That’s why you will need adequate life insurance, and possibly disability insurance, too. Your employer may offer you both these types of coverage as an employee benefit, but it might not be enough — so you may want to explore private coverage as well.

Financial Planning Month will come and go. But by following the above suggestions, you can create some strategies that will bring you a lifetime of benefits.

This article was written by Edward Jones on behalf of your Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Are you on track to meet your financial goals?

Northwest Florida is home to many natural resource wonders. One such wonder is the series of coastal dune lakes that dot the coast of the panhandle. 

A lake is considered a coastal dune lake if it is a permanent body of water found within 2 miles of the coast. These types of lakes are rare, being found only in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia and Madagascar. We are fortunate to have 15 coastal dune lakes in our area.

Local coastal dune lakes are a recent geological phenomenon, formed a mere 4,000 to 5,000 years ago by wind and migrating sand. Northwest Florida’s lakes are unique because they have an outfall. An outfall occurs when the lake overflows, bursts through the dunes and exchanges water with the Gulf of Mexico. Because of this unique feature, the lakes contain fresh and salt water of varying salinities.

The lakes are surrounded by a variety of ecosystems including: maritime hammock, flatwoods, scrub, upland pine forest, sandhill, seepage slope, wet prairie and the densest concentration of carnivorous plants. The accompanying wildlife is equally diverse and includes bears, deer, squirrel, rabbits, alligators, snakes, tortoise and turtles, crabs, migratory birds, shorebirds, osprey, eagles and fresh and saltwater fish.

Several threatened and endangered species, like the beach mouse, plovers and gopher tortoise also call the lakes and surrounding dunes home.

The lakes have high recreational value in our area. Popular activities include photography, boating, paddling, fishing, hiking, bird and butterfly watching. 

If you would like to learn more about the dune lakes, bring a camera Nov. 3 and join Walton County Extension Agent Evan Anderson (agriculture) and I for a walking tour of the Grayton Beach Nature Trail around Western Lake.

For more information and to register for this event, please go to https://www.eventbrite.com and enter “Dune Lake Tour”; the cost is $10 per person.

Laura Tiu is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Exploring Northwest Florida’s coastal dune lakes

One of the inevitable facts in this life is that we all age — not just we humans, but also our pets. It is sad when our pets have aging issues, as they don't understand what is happening. 

My adorable collie Shane has developed hip problems. He looks at me with his big, beautiful brown eyes and asks, "Why am I having trouble getting up, Mommy?" 

How do I explain to him that he has doggy arthritis?

It is much more difficult to watch our parents age. My Dad is close to 92 and would be the first to say that getting old is not for the faint of heart. Dad was always strong and robust, so it is tough to see him stooped and weak.

I asked Dad what bothered him most about aging and he said, "One gets weaker and you can't do what you'd like to do; you injure more easily, your balance isn't as good, and you are more likely to have a stroke or heart attack. My muscles aren't as strong as they were and now I can hurt myself when I lift something that used to be easy to lift."

One thing that has gotten better is his vision because of successful cataract surgery.

However:

• He said that his short-term memory and hearing are worse — and it is frustrating.
• He also said it is a funny feeling to see your children age, get bald, need glasses, gain weight and have gray hair.
• He also said that the great ideas he has in the morning aren't accomplished, as by mid-morning he has run out of energy.
• He doesn't consider these the golden years.

Pets are wonderful companions for the elderly, as they provide great company. If your parents or neighbors have pets, it would be a great help to offer to walk, brush or bathe their dogs or clean their kitty boxes.

I know from speaking with my Dad as well as other elderly friends that it is harder to meet people because as you age, others don't find you as interesting.

Since we are all aging, let's be kind to the elderly and make an effort to spend time with them because they still need human interaction and we can learn from their wisdom.

Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Rethinking ‘the golden years’