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The Retirement Newsletter: How is my retirement plan going?
Issue Number: -106 — End of year review
Welcome
Welcome to newsletter -106 — and it is time for the quarterly review of my plan to retire.
My end of year review
At the end of each quarter (so I am a week late), I like to sit down and review how my plans to retire are progressing. I also do a more extensive review at the end of the year.
My last review was in issue -120 — The Retirement Newsletter: How's your retirement plan going? — Time for a quarterly review — and I wrote about my planning process:
Issue -132: The Retirement Newsletter: Starting to plan for your retirement
Issue -131: The Retirement Newsletter: What do I need to do to retire?
From my SWOT analysis of getting to retirement (see Issue -131) I have four areas of concern:
Money
Job
Health
Life
And, three months ago, my review suggested:
Money — I was delighted with how things were progressing. There were no significant issues, but I was a little worried about some UK tax changes and how they might impact my plans.
Job — I had finished the job list.
Health — overall, OK. A health scare earlier in the year has been resolved, and (as ever) I just need to drop a few pounds.
Life — in the last review, I did say I needed to focus on my life list more.
So, how is it going?
Money
The money list contains three sub-lists:
Debt — credit cards, car debt, and mortgage
Pension — what condition was it in, and what could I do to improve it?
Extra-income — could I generate extra income to help reduce my debt, improve my pension pot and also give me some little extra 'luxuries' in my retirement?
So, how is it going?
Debt: I had cleared all credit card and car debts at the start of the year, and I had not taken on any new debts.
Pension: Pension pots look OK. My pots have had a turbulent year, lots of worrying ups and downs, but they have come out ahead. I took a look at the tax changes coming to the UK (see The Retirement Newsletter: How to pay less tax in the UK? Issue Number: -117 — A 'trick' everyone can use to pay less tax in the UK) and while it means less money in my pocket, it was not as bad as I feared. One new worry, three months ago the taxman sent me a letter about unpaid tax. I have replied, and I am still waiting to hear back.
Extra-income: Last quarter I said: "This is something I have been chasing for years", and it is still something I am thinking about. The problem is, I need time to work on extra income, and I am now convinced it is something I will only get to once I have retired.
So, I am still happy with how things are progressing with the 'Money List'.
Job
Back in issue -120, I said, "So, the Job list is finished. Tick, done." — now I am not so sure and I have reactivated the list.
I had planned to 'ride out' my current position. That is, to do the job asked of me, innovate, improve the delivery of teaching and then leave. However, COVID-19 has made my job more complex, and I wonder if I need a change. It seems mad to change positions with only two years left to my retirement date.
There are three problems at work:
Recruitment freeze — in the last couple of years, no new staff have been hired even though there has been an increase in student numbers.
Increased student mental health issues — due to COVID-19, we are seeing a significant spike in student mental health issues. When students have problems, staff have problems, as we support the students. Increased levels of support mean more work for the staff.
Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on student performance — to support the students, we have put in many processes to help students in their studies. The problem — these processes have increased staff workload.
Now, all universities face the same issues as above (except for the recruitment freeze), so how would changing universities help? Well, if I were able to get a job at another university, I would move back to 'square 1' and be a new boy. And, being a new boy means fewer responsibilities!
To add to the 'job mix', there is also the possibility of being made redundant or fired. I am old and hence expensive to employ, so a way for a university to save money is to fire me and hire someone cheaper. It does happen.
So, the job list is active again. I'm keeping an eye on the job listings and keeping a wary eye on what university management is doing.
Health
All OK. I just need to drop a few pounds.
Life
The life list has been a bit of a disaster, and I blame Christmas.
The 'life list' is still the longest list and contains things about family, relationships, and weird things that I need to do, everything from decluttering to house maintenance.
The 'family' stuff has been a bit of a disaster, and I feel I have taken one step forward and about ten back. The only area I have made any progress is house maintenance, and here I cheated. I got someone in to do the jobs I should have done over the summer. In my view, money well spent.
Over the next few months, I need to focus on the 'Life' list more.
Summary
I have made progress. I have cleared my debts. I have increased the size of my pension pot due to some lucky investments and investing the money that had been servicing my debts.
I am saddened to reactivate the job list and disappointed that the 'life' list is moving backwards.
Here's to a successful 2022!
The Future — what are you going to do?
Back in issue -121 - What am I going to do once I retire? — I wrote about what I might do when I retire, and I introduced five plans I have been thinking about and outlined why I may or may not follow through on the plans. The plans were:
The ski plan
The travel plan
The Europe plan
The UK camper van plan
The narrowboat plan
In the narrowboat plan, I mentioned a YouTube channel called 'Foxes afloat' and even sent out a Tweet on @pensionednews about the plan and mentioned @FoxesAfloat. And they replied!
Well, Colin and Shaun (and Otis), I plan to do as you have suggested.
My current thinking is to spend some time this summer and the following on a narrowboat to get a feel for the life. And, if the summer adventures all go well, when I retire, hire a boat for two or three months (and I have found a company that offers boats for extended hires) before committing. The only problem with this approach is hiring a boat for a few months; I will be blowing around 10% of my 'boat fund' on rental charges — a tough call.
Useful links
UK Government Website:
Next week
Next week, ten reasons why I won't be retiring in 2022.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you have something you would like to contribute to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.
Please note: I am not a financial advisor. When I am writing about money and financial matters, it is based on things I have read about money and about preparing to retire. IT IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.
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