When you retire, will your cost of living decline? Some of your expenses may indeed drop, but others won’t. Plus, you may have some new ones to consider.

So, all in all, it’s a good idea to think about ways to boost your retirement savings now, before you’re retired. And once you do retire, you’ll need to be adept at managing your income.

But whether saving today or planning for tomorrow, you should familiarize yourself with the key financial challenges you will face during your retirement years.

Specifically, consider these areas:

●Longevity: Obviously, the longer your retirement lasts, the more money you’ll need. And you could be retired for quite some time. A 65-year-old man, on average, is expected to live another 17.9 years, while a 65-year-old woman can anticipate another 20.5 years, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

With this type of potential longevity in mind, you’ll want to contribute as much as you can afford to your retirement plans, such as your IRA and 401(k), while you’re working.

Then, when you are retired and start tapping into your investment portfolio, you will need to create a sustainable withdrawal rate — one that doesn’t push you into the “danger zone” of possibly outliving your resources.

●Health care: Once you enter your retirement years, your health care costs are all but certain to rise, even with Medicare.

In fact, the average annual out-of-pocket health care cost for a household between 65 and 74 years old is $4,383 — about 11 percent of total household spending, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. And these costs rise substantially for those over 74.

To help cope with these costs, you’ll need a reasonable amount of liquidity in your portfolio.

●Long-term care: You may never need to stay in a nursing home or receive services from a home health care worker. But you are taking somewhat of a gamble if you don’t prepare for these long-term care costs — because they are high.

In fact, the annual average cost for a private room in a nursing home is more than $92,000, according to the 2016 Cost of Care Survey produced by Genworth, a financial services company.

Medicare typically pays very little of these expenses, but a financial professional can help you find an appropriate way of coping with these types of costs.

●Inflation: We’ve had low inflation the past several years, but it hasn’t gone away entirely, and it won’t disappear when you’re retired, either. Even a mild rate of inflation can, over time, seriously erode your purchasing power. To combat the effects of inflation, you’ll need to own at least some growth-oriented investments.

●Market volatility: The financial markets will bounce up and down during your retirement years, just as they did when you were working.

The big difference? You have less time to recover — and you don’t want to withdraw from your investments when their price is down.

However, you can help avoid this necessity by maintaining enough income-producing vehicles in your portfolio; these types of investments usually fluctuate much less in value than stocks and stock-based vehicles.

By being aware of these issues, both before and during your retirement, you can prepare for them — and preparation is key to managing your income, as it is in all walks of life.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SHANKLIN: How to manage retirement income challenges

Thanks to our Friends of the Crestview Library, we have a Wii U!

Now, when students in grades six through 12 come on Fridays from 2-4 p.m., more players can play at the same time. “Super Smash Brothers Brawl” is projected onto the wall (which is larger than our television screen).

Ginny Dennison supervises Teen Wii. She and I put our heads together to get it set up the first time, and, of course, needed the students’ help. They were glad to give it and, together, we made a success of our Friends’ generosity.

Want to support our library by becoming a Friends member? Pick up a membership brochure next time you’re in the library. Memberships start as low as $10 for an individual.

Heather Nitzel is the Crestview Public Library's youth services librarian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NITZEL: Crestview library gets a Wii U

Fall armyworms were found this week in wildlife food plots containing clovers.

This pest can completely defoliate a field in an about a week. They have a wide range of host plants such as grasses, clovers, cotton, soybeans, corn, peanuts, and tomatoes.

Fall armyworms overwinter in southern Florida and southern Texas. The moths or adult stage are strong fliers that disperse long distances across the Southeastern US over the summer.

Their life cycle includes egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The length of the life cycle depends on the time of year, from 30 days in the summer to 90 days in the winter.

Each female moth lays up to 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. Each egg mass is laid on foliage and contain 100-200 eggs. Eggs only take two to three days to hatch during the summer.

The larval (worm) stage is the most damaging to crops. Larvae consume a lot of foliage and grow quickly, especially in the summer months.

The face of a mature larva will have a light colored inverted “Y”. This stage usually lasts 14 days in the summer. The larvae then spin a loose cocoon and pupate in the soil. In about eight to nine summer days, an adult moth will emerge. The adult moth then lives about seven to 21 days, with the females laying eggs on favored food sources.

Scouting is in order for row crops, wildlife food plots, and hay fields.

For information on controlling fall armyworms, call the Okaloosa County Extension office at 689-5850.

Jennifer Bearden 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: BEARDEN: Check fields for armyworm infestations

We’re getting close to Labor Day, a celebration of the men and women who roll up their sleeves and go to work each day. If you’re in the workforce yourself, you can appreciate this recognition of your efforts. And as an investor, you can employ these attributes of the American worker:

●Organization – The most productive workers are those who organize their time and efforts to maximize their productivity. When you invest, organization is also important. You might have trouble gaining traction toward your goals, such as a comfortable retirement, if you own a bunch of scattered investments that aren’t really working together to help you. Instead, try to build a portfolio in which all your investments combine to provide the opportunities for growth and income you need to help reach your objectives.

●Perseverance – As workers, all of us go through difficult times, whether with our bosses, co-workers or even the work itself – but we persevere. As an investor, you, too, will experience bumps in the road, in the form of market downturns. Yet, if you avoid making hasty and ill-advised moves in response to potential short-term volatility, you can maintain your focus on your long-term needs and goals – and, as a result, you can help improve your chances of meeting those needs and attaining those goals.

●Vision – Workers put in their time, year after year, because they have a vision of what they hope their efforts will yield – a rewarding career, sufficient financial resources for their family, and so on. As an investor, you also can benefit from articulating a picture of what you hope to achieve. And that means you need to be specific about what you want. Instead of saying to yourself, ‘I’d like to retire comfortably someday,’ pin yourself down as to what this really means. At what age would you like to retire? Will you want to travel the world or stay close to home to pursue your hobbies? How much money will you need to make these wishes come true? Where will this money come from? By answering these and other questions, you can define a vision for your financial future, leading you to the next step – creating a strategy to help turn this vision into reality.

●Diversity – The American workforce benefits from drawing on the experiences and viewpoints of people from all different backgrounds. When you invest, you should also seek diversity. If you only owned one type of investment vehicle, such as growth stocks, and the market hit a downturn, your portfolio would likely take a big hit. It’s a given that the value of investments will fluctuate, which means, under some circumstances, you could lose some or all of your principal. But if you spread your dollars among a range of vehicles – including stocks, bonds, government securities, certificates of deposit and real estate – you can reduce the impact of volatility on your holdings. (Keep in mind, though, that diversification, by itself, does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss.)

Labor Day will come and go quickly.

But by emulating some of the characteristics of the American workforce, you can continue making progress toward your goals – without even having to work overtime.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SHANKLIN: Investors can learn much from America's workforce

Here in Crestview and Northwest Florida, we have been blessed for many years without a severe storm or hurricane.

The Lord has been good to us.

As we head into September, we need to maintain our preparedness in case we face severe weather. As humans, we tend to get complacent, but we need to maintain our vigilance.

My family tries to keep the following on hand for an emergency:

●Insurance documents, vehicle and bank information, and other important papers in a portable file

●Pet carriers and dog leashes near the front door

●Plenty of water on hand — at least 1 gallon per day for both pets and people

●Snacks and food that can be eaten without cooking, canned goods, granola bars and other packaged foods (make sure you have a hand can opener)

●Plenty of pet food and cat litter

●Medicines for all persons and pets in the family — 10 to 14 days' worth

●Glasses and contacts (and solutions) readily available

●At least one-half tank of fuel in our cars. It doesn't get below that in case we need to leave quickly or the gas stations have no power to pump the gasoline.

●A small outdoor grill and propane so we can grill outside if it is safe

●Important phone numbers and a car cell phone charger

●Flashlights and battery operated lanterns as well as extra batteries

More recommended items are:

●First aid supplies

●Portable radio or television; there are hand-crank devices available

●A planned evacuation route, and make sure any motels or hotels are pet friendly if you have pets

●Having a family meeting place in case of an emergency

●Knowing where to buy dry ice for your refrigerator and freezer

If you can afford one, have a home generator professionally installed. Keep duct tape on hand to seal your refrigerator and freezer to help keep in the cold air so your food doesn't spoil as quickly.

If you would like more information on preparation, visit http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/27/us/hurricane-preparation/index.html. There are also forms to download at https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/Family_Emegency_Plan.pdf.

Stay safe Crestview!

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: CROSE: How we prepare for emergency situations