You won’t see it on the calendar, and it doesn’t inspire any greeting cards, but National Save for Retirement Week is here again. The goal of this week is self-explanatory, but what does it mean to you? Are you vulnerable to the possibility of reaching retirement without sufficient financial resources? If so, how can you ease this risk?

Let’s look at the “vulnerability” issue first. How prepared you’ll be for retirement — or at least how prepared you think you’ll be — seems to depend, not surprisingly, on whether you are currently participating in a retirement plan such as a 401(k) or an IRA. Consider these statistics, taken from the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey:

•Nearly half of workers without a retirement plan were “not at all confident” about their financial security in retirement, compared with only about one in 10 with a plan.

•36 percent of workers say they have less than $1,000 in savings and investments. Of this group, 73 percent said they and their spouse did not have a retirement plan, compared to just 11 percent of those with a plan.

Clearly, it pays to contribute to your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored plan, such as a 403(b) or 457(b). And, even if you do have a 401(k) or similar plan, you may want to consider funding a Roth or traditional IRA.

Besides contributing as much as you can afford to your retirement plans, what else can you do to help boost your retirement savings?

For one thing, try to control your debts. It’s not always easy, but try to consistently live within your means and make wise spending decisions. Every dollar you don’t spend on debt payments could be going toward your retirement savings.

While it’s essential that you save and invest for retirement, you can’t forget other objectives you may have, such as helping pay for your children’s college education. Of course, if you’re like the vast majority of people, you don’t have unlimited resources — so working toward two major financial goals at the same time can certainly be challenging. Nonetheless, a college education can still be a springboard to a successful career, so you may well feel that you should do everything within your power to help your kids through school.

How can you balance the two important goals of investing for your retirement and for your children’s college expenses? Your best move may be to start saving for college just as soon as possible — even when your children are quite young. By starting early, you’ll put time on your side, so you can put away smaller amounts each year than if you waited until the years right before your kids head off to school. Consider investing annually whatever amounts you can afford to a tax-advantaged college savings vehicle, such as a 529 plan.

By investing as much as possible in your retirement plan, managing your debt load and balancing your retirement goals with other key objectives, you’ll be honoring the message of National Save for Retirement Week. 

Joe Faulk is a Crestview financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: FINANICAL FOCUS: Heed message of 'Save for Retirement' Week”

Ebola is a virus to respect, not fear, and its spread can be fairly easily contained if proper precautions are taken.

That's Dr. Ann Likos' message to representatives of Okaloosa County organizations most likely to come into contact with the disease, should it find its way here.

The “only real way” to get Ebola is from bodily contact, Likos recently told emergency workers, hospital administrators and representatives from Hurlburt and Eglin Air Force Base. It can be passed by coming into contact with vomit, diarrhea and sweat from an infected source, Likos, director of the state Department of Health’s Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, said.

“Distancing” is the simple best way to protect yourself.

Only one case of Ebola has been confirmed in the United States and of the 114 who came into contact with that person in Texas “most of them are at no risk," Likos said.

A person sick with Ebola will display flu-like symptoms of high fever, headache, nausea and upset stomach.

Importantly though, the victim would also have had have visited the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past 21 days, health officials said.

If those two thresholds are met, the health department should be immediately contacted.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Local officials briefed on Ebola virus

Soil is a vitally important part of all of our lives.  It provides the foundation for us to build roads and houses.  It provides building materials for our homes and businesses.  It holds and provides nutrients for plant growth.

Some soils are better at holding nutrients than others.  There are three basic types of soils – sand, silt and clay.  Sandy soils tend to leach nutrients quickly.  Clay soils sometimes can bind nutrients too tightly.  Silt soils are intermediate between these two.  Of course, our soils are typically a mixture of these three types, making each soil very unique.

There is one major improvement that we can make in all soils that help increase our soil quality.  We can encourage the accumulation of soil organic matter.

Soil organic matter is the organic component of soil, consisting of three primary parts including small (fresh) plant residues and small living soil organisms, decomposing (active) organic matter, and stable organic matter (humus).

Soil organic matter is important because it:

•Improves soil fertility.

•Improves water holding capacity.

•Improves nutrient holding capacity.

•Improves biodiversity of microorganisms.

We can accumulate soil organic matter by:

•Using cover crops instead of allowing soil to sit uncovered for seasons.

•Soil test and apply fertilizers properly.

•Reduce tillage.

•Prevent topsoil erosion.

•Rotate crops and plant perennial forages on resting lands.

For more information about soil quality, you can give me a call at 689-5850 or email me at bearden@ufl.edu.

Jennifer Bearden is an agent at the University of Florida's Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EXTENSION CONNECTION: Easy ways to increase soil quality

CRESTVIEW— Act4Murder, a theater troupe, will present "Redneck Rivalry" this month.

This original murder mystery dinner theatre production features feuding cousins, outrageous costumes, music, comedy, romance — and bacon — in a 7 p.m. dinner and show.

The fun starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at Coach-N-Four, 114 John King Road, Crestview, with seating at 6:30.

Tickets are $37 per person. Call the restaurant at 850-432-1003 for dinner reservations.

For more information on Act4Murder, call 850-862-2885 or visit www.act4murder.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ‘Redneck Rivalry’ coming soon to a restaurant near you