For reasons likely to remain obscure, Oct. 30 is Checklist Day.

While the origins of this observance may be a mystery, the value of checklists is clear: They help us organize our time and break large jobs into manageable steps. You can use a checklist for just about any significant endeavor — including the task of choosing a financial professional to help you achieve your important goals.

Here's what such a checklist might look like:

•Find someone with the proper credentials. Make sure a prospective financial professional has the appropriate securities registrations.

•Find someone who has worked with people like you. You'll want to seek out a financial professional who has experience working with people in circumstances similar to yours — that is, people of your financial status and with essentially the same goals and attitudes toward investing.

•Find someone who will communicate with you regularly. During the course of your relationship with a financial professional, you will have many questions: Are my investments performing as they should? Should I change my investment mix? Am I still on track to meet my long-term goals? Plus, you will have changes in your life — new children, new jobs, new activities — that will affect your financial picture and that need to be communicated to your financial professional.

Consequently, you need to be sure that whomever you work with is easy to reach and will be in regular contact with you. Many financial professionals meet with their clients at least once a year to discuss the clients' portfolios and recommend changes, as needed, and also make themselves available, through phone calls and email, for any questions or concerns their clients may have.

•Find someone who will honor your preferences. Some financial professionals follow certain philosophies. For example, you might find one advisor who tends to favor aggressive investing, while another one might be more conservative. There's nothing wrong with either approach, but you'll want to be sure that your preferences take precedence in all recommendations and guidance you receive from a financial professional. And many professionals won't express any of their own preferences at all, but will instead follow a course of action based on your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon.

•Find someone connected to other professionals. Your investment plans don't exist in a vacuum. Over time, you will likely need to integrate elements of your investment strategy with your tax and estate planning strategies. When this happens, you may find it advantageous to have a financial professional who can work with tax and legal professionals to help you meet all your needs in these areas.

•Find someone whose compensation structure is acceptable to you. Financial professionals get paid in different ways — through fees, commissions or a combination of both. Which method is best for you, as an investor? There's no one "right" answer — but you will certainly want to understand exactly how your financial professional will get paid and how this pay structure will affect your interactions with him or her.

You may find this checklist to be useful when you interview financial professionals. Take your time and make sure you're confident about your ultimate choice. After all, you're hiring someone to help you reach your key goals, such as a comfortable retirement, so you'll want to get the right person on your side.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Checklist to help you choose a financial professional

The eastern oyster is native, commercially and environmentally important to our area. Oysters are a popular food item and are important in maintaining the water quality in our bay and beaches.

While there is not much commercial harvest still in our area, total annual landings for the state of Florida once topped $8 million. Many oysters are now raised using aquaculture and the industry is growing yearly.

Once the East Pass in Destin opened after the 1929 floods, oyster reefs naturally established themselves on oyster mounds discarded by earlier inhabitants. They were regularly harvested for food, but in subsequent years, this has been in steady decline.

Oysters still play a crucial role in the Choctawhatchee Bay, our area’s largest estuary. They filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, which reduces the amount of silt and suspended solids and diligently improves the clarity of the water. They can tolerate a wide range of salinity (saltiness of the water) and provide food and shelter for various other organisms like fish, worms and shrimp. They also reduce shoreline erosion by providing a barrier against waves.

However, oyster habitat, and therefore population numbers, have all declined in recent years. To address this habitat loss, the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance started a local oyster shell-recycling program. They collect shells from restaurants and, instead of them ending up in the landfill, they are used to construct oyster reef habitat. These “living shorelines” provide habitat for important fish and shrimp species and the structure for live oysters to attach. This program, using a network of volunteers, continues to expand today.

Eating fresh oysters is a delight best savored on the coast. Buying fresh oysters locally, at a seafood shop or restaurant, and keeping them cold is key.

One cup of oysters has 170 calories, 2 grams of fat, 10 grams of carbohydrates and 17 grams of protein. They're also a great source of zinc and omega-3s.

A few myths surround these delectable bivalves, but they have not been proven to be an aphrodisiac or cure a hangover.

One of the most popular myths concerns when to eat oysters. Historically, it was said to eat oysters only in months that contained the letter “R,” meaning September through April. This most likely had to do with the importance of keeping them cold. However, with the advent of ice and the ability to chill, it is safe to eat oysters year-round. Enjoy some oysters today.

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: Oyster biology, ecology and myth busting

Fall has finally arrived in the Crestview area. Thankfully the temperatures have cooled off, the grass has been mowed one last time before spring, and all of the beautiful fall flowers are in bloom. I love mums and it is nice to have them blooming in so many colors.

Unfortunately, the swindlers are back. I received a couple of calls last week stating that my Microsoft license had expired and I must call immediately and renew it or my computer would quit working.

I know that Microsoft licenses last as long as the computer, so I just erased the message.

It is frustrating that evil people trap unknowing seniors and others into paying hundreds of dollars for a fake license, and in the process will likely destroy everything of value on the computer.

Don't ever give anyone that calls you access to your computer. If your computer needs service, take it to a reputable computer repair store. The Microsoft website states: "Microsoft never makes unasked for support or security phone calls."

With the storms and fires we have had around the country, the IRS sent out a warning about fake charities that are designed to steal one's hard-earned money.

Jim, my husband, and I, give through our church, or Samaritan's Purse. If a charity sounds great, check them at charitynavigator.org for legitimacy. The site provides information on how the money is used and how much is spent on salaries and fundraising efforts.

The old scam about owing taxes is also back. Apparently these scammers con people out of so much money they never go away completely.

According to the IRS, "The IRS does not call and leave prerecorded, urgent messages asking for a call back. In this tactic, the victim is told if they do not call back, a warrant will be issued for their arrest." (https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15f165479c8dd1ab)

Also, the IRS will never ask for payment to be made with gift cards of any type. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 if you suspect you may owe back taxes.

The IRS mails letters if taxes are owed — they do not call and demand payment. Please don't fall for this scam.

Stay safe!

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: A return to fall weather — and scammers

I continue with a brief look at one way you can get the matters in your life into proper perspective through brief reflections on Psalm 23.

Verse 2 states, "He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams." 

It is very important that time be taken to rest your body and mind. When this is forgotten, people rush around frantically seeking fulfillment.

People rush from one thing to another, almost like they are trying to avoid something. It’s like, if they remain busy enough, they won’t have to look at ghosts from the past. Or they won’t have to deal with pressures, real or imagined. Or they won’t have to pay attention to comments people made about them — real or imagined — telling them how pitiful or inadequate they might be.

It is quite easy to get caught up in life’s frustrations and frenzies. Matters demand your attention. Fears and uncertainties gnaw away at you. Demands seem to pull you in many different directions. There are times you may wonder about your ability to maintain your sanity.

The thing is, our Lord invites us to stop this madness, this rushing around, and to rest in his presence. He longs for us to hear how precious we are to him, that we are not the lies that are told about or to us. He longs for us to hear that we don’t need to rush from one thing to another, or to run from our pasts.

God continuously offers you comfort and peace, which will come to you if you would just let him lead you, as a shepherd leads his flock to rich, green pastures and cool refreshing water.

What our Lord offers – his refreshment, his nourishment, his peace – is there for us to receive as a gift. We have the ability to accept or reject that offer.

My recommendation? Receive the gift.

Utilize it.

Rest in his amazing grace, and in his peaceful presence.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Find rest in amazing grace

Halloween is almost upon us. Of course, on Halloween night, you may see a parade of monsters, demons, Transformers and other frightening individuals stopping by your house, exercising their right to demand candy.

Fortunately, their appearance will be unlikely to cause you unpleasant dreams. But some people seem to have real fears about other things — such as what may happen in the financial markets.

One way to keep those fears at bay is to avoid certain impulsive moves, such as the following:

•Avoid ducking out of the market — Consider this: In March 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at about 12,275 points. Exactly two years later, in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, the Dow had fallen to about 6,500 — a drop of 47 percent and the Dow's lowest point in 12 years. By that time, a lot of people had gone to the investment sidelines.

So, what did they miss? Depending on how long they stayed out of the market, they may have missed some, or perhaps most, of one of the longest and strongest bull markets in history, because, just eight years later, the Dow had soared to almost 21,000, a gain of 223 percent. Of course, investing does involve the risk of losing principal, and there is no guarantee the market will perform as it has in the past. However, it's fair to say that if you duck out of the market during its lower points, you might not benefit from the gains that may follow.

•Avoid chasing "hot" stocks — By the time you hear about a supposedly "hot" stock, it may already be cooling off. Also, how trustworthy is the source? Does this tip come from an unbiased, knowledgeable individual? If not, you need to ask if the hot stock is appropriate for your needs, goals and risk tolerance. If not, it's not so hot.

•Avoid taking on too much — or too little — risk. If you feel the need to push your portfolio toward the maximum possible returns, you might invest too aggressively and take on too much risk.

Conversely, if you are determined to avoid any amount of loss, at any time, you might invest so conservatively that your portfolio won't grow enough to help you achieve your long-term goals. You need to strike a balance between risk and reward that is appropriate for you, and you need to make investment choices suitable for your individual risk tolerance.

•Avoid owning too many of the same investments — If you own a lot of one particular financial asset and a market downturn affects that asset class strongly, your portfolio could suffer. But if you spread your investment dollars among domestic and international stocks, bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, certificates of deposit (CDs) and so on, you may not be as susceptible to a downturn, because different types of investments often perform differently at any given time. (Keep in mind, though, that while diversification can help reduce the effects of market volatility, it can't guarantee profits or protect against all losses.)

No matter what you do, you can't take all the uncertainty out of investing. But by understanding market volatility and the composition of your portfolio, you can invest with more confidence.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Does market volatility scare you?