You might work diligently at building a financial roadmap for your retirement years and a comprehensive estate plan.

But you can’t just create these strategies — you also have to communicate them. Specifically, you need to inform your spouse and your grown children what you have in mind for the future — because the more they know, the fewer the surprises that await them down the road.

Let’s start with your spouse. Ideally, of course, you and your spouse should have already communicated about your respective ideas for retirement and have come to an agreement on the big issues, such as when you both plan to retire, where you’ll live during retirement, and what you want to do as retirees (volunteer, travel, work part time and so on).

But what you both might have let slip through the cracks are the important specifics related to financing your retirement.

You’ll need to answer several questions, including these:

●When will you each start taking Social Security?

●Are there strategies for maximizing both of your Social Security payments?

●When will you need to start tapping into your respective retirement accounts, such as your IRA and 401(k)? And, once you do start withdrawing from these accounts, how much should you take out each year?

You may want to work with a financial professional to address these issues, but however you proceed, you and your spouse need to be “on the same page” regarding the key financial components of your retirement.

Now, consider your grown children. You need to clearly communicate your estate plans to them, not only for the sake of openness and honesty, but also because they may well play active roles within those plans. So when talking to your children, make sure you cover these areas:

●Durable power of attorney — You may well decide to give one of your grown children the durable power of attorney to pay bills and make financial choices on your behalf if you are unable to do so.

●Estate executor — An executor is the person or entity you name in your will to carry out your wishes. An executor has a variety of responsibilities, so you’ll want to choose someone who is honest and capable of dealing with legal and financial matters. Again, you could ask a grown child to serve as your executor, but, to avoid potential conflict of interests among your children, you might want to go outside the family. Talk with an attorney about how best to name your executor.

●Status of will and living trust — Assuming you have already drawn up a will, share it with your grown children. The same is true with a living trust, a popular estate-planning tool that may allow your survivors to avoid going through the time-consuming, public and expensive process of probate.

A will and a living trust will obviously contain a great deal of information your children should know about — so take the time to explain your thinking when you created these documents.

You want to enjoy a comfortable retirement, and you want to leave a meaningful legacy through your estate plans.

To help accomplish both these goals, you need to include your loved ones in your arrangements — so open those lines of communication.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SHANKLIN: Tips for sharing your retirement, estate plans with family

American beautyberry puts on quite a show during the fall with its bright purple fruit.

The profusion of berry-like fruit found along the thin branches result in the plant taking on a weeping habit.

Each fruit is only about 1/3 inch in diameter but collectively form roundish clusters that encircle the stems. The berries are particularly showy in September and October. They remain on the plant, even after its leaves have dropped, into early winter if not eaten by birds and other wildlife.

Many species of birds — including robins, cardinals, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, finches and towhees — will eat beautyberry fruit. Birds are a major method of seed dispersal for this plant.

Even though I consider the showy fruit its best attribute, the small, lavender flowers tightly bunched together along the stems during June to August are attractive, as well. The plant is not well suited for manicured, formal landscapes but can be useful in a naturalized garden.

American beautyberry is a deciduous shrub without much ornamental value during the winter. But during the growing season, its somewhat course, fuzzy, light-green leaves look good in a setting with other darker-leaved shrubs.

It grows well in part shade/part sun as an understory plant beneath larger trees such as pines and oaks.

Be sure to allow enough room for this sprawling shrub to develop into its mature size of three to eight feet in height with an equal spread.

It may also be used as an informal screen or even as a specimen plant. But avoid using it where it will require regular shearing as the flowers and fruit are produced on new growth.

Thinning out old or low-growing branches is a better method of pruning this plant. American beautyberry may self-seed but I have not seen this to be a bothersome problem.

America beautyberry is somewhat available in the nursery trade and is fairly easy to propagate from stem cuttings. It can be propagated from seeds, as well. In addition to the purple fruiting types, look for cultivars such as 'Russell Montgomery' that produce white fruit. There are also other nonnative species of Callicarpa worth looking at, such as C. dichotoma and C. japonica.

Larry Williams 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: WILLIAMS: Get some American beautyberry in your garden

The Crestview Public Library will take part in the Big Library Read. The program is the world’s largest digital book club through public libraries; it connects millions of readers around the world with the same eBook at the same time.

For two weeks beginning June 23, Crestview Public Library users will be able to borrow the eBook, "A Murder in Time" by Julie McElwain (Pegasus Books), from http://okaloosa.lib.overdrive.com and participate in a worldwide version of a local book club. There will be no waitlists for this popular mystery with a twist, which was selected based on a survey of more than 20,000 library readers.

"A Murder in Time" is an intricate mystery about a brilliant FBI agent, Kendra, who finds herself transported back in time to the 1800s. Relegated to the servant class, she stumbles across a gruesome murder, and she alone recognizes there is a serial killer in their midst. Kendra scrambles to solve the case before it takes her own life — 200 years before she was ever born. 

At its core, Julie McElwain’s debut novel is a puzzle, a hunt for a murderer and a quest for justice.

“Throughout my life, I’ve loved all genres of books — mystery, romance, paranormal and historical,” said author Julie McElwain. “Maybe that’s why I’ve included a little bit of all those elements in ‘A Murder in Time.’ I sincerely hope readers enjoy Kendra’s story as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it.”

Big Library Read is a free program. To get started reading, all you need is a Crestview, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Mary Esther, Niceville or Valparaiso library card.

The book can be read on all major computers and devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Chromebook and Kindle. The eBook will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, so there are never any late fees.

Big Library Read is facilitated by OverDrive, the leading platform for eBooks and audiobooks from the library. The program is made possible through a partnership between OCPLC member libraries, OverDrive and Pegasus Books, publisher of the McElwain novel.

For more information on Big Library Read, visit BigLibraryRead.com.

Marie Garcia is the Crestview Public Library's director.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: GARCIA: Crestview library to participate in world’s largest digital book club

Many Crestview High School graduates will get jobs. It may be a full-time summer job, or a part-time job that will be kept once school begins, but these young adults will produce income.

It is never too early to begin saving, both for unexpected expenses as well as for retirement. When one is in their late teens and early 20s, the last thing they want to think about is retirement — we all tend to think we will never grow old. I didn't think I would get old, but I did; it's inevitable.

Here are some suggestions for financial discipline that will last a lifetime: 

Open a checking and a savings account and set up your paycheck for direct deposit. Allocate 25 percent to your savings account and the other 75 percent to your checking account.

The checking account money will be the money that you use to pay any bills you are responsible for, such as a cell phone, vehicle fuel, car insurance and food.

If you have moved from home then you may need to also allocate money for rent, utilities and groceries.

Christians: Tithe 10 percent of your income. Whenever you are paid, take 10 percent of your earnings out of your checking account and donate to your church.  This will keep you from spending your tithe and help develop the habit of tithing. 

Invest. Allow your savings account to accumulate and, when you have about $400, go into the bank, speak with a financial adviser and open an individual retirement account.

Once this account is opened, contribute at least $50 per month into it; as your income grows, so should your monthly IRA contribution.

If one begins at a young age to save for retirement, they will have a nice nest egg at retirement. 

Many Americans are totally unprepared to retire; they don't have the finances that will allow them to quit working. By making this choice when you are young, you are setting yourself up to succeed.

Always have a healthy savings account, as we never know the future. My husband, Jim, and I have certainly found that out first-hand.

Once you are married with a family and home, there are always unexpected expenses, and having that safety net of savings when a car needs unexpected repairs, or the washer quits, or the air conditioner needs replacing, is always welcome. 

Making smart money choices when one is young sets one up for a successful life.

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: 3 tips for Crestview High graduates to save for the future