The Retirement Newsletter: Imposters, vaccines, Autumn Statements and moonshots

Issue Number: -61 — a mixed bag this week

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Welcome

Welcome to issue number -61, this week it is a bit of a mixed bag, and I will be asking:

• Is there an imposter in the room?

• Where is my moon base (and flying car)?

• Does the ‘Autumn Statement from the Government impact my retirement plans?

• And, have you had your jabs?

First, imposter syndrome and retirement.

Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a feeling of not belonging somewhere when, in fact, you are entitled to be there.

In my line of work, education, we often encounter this at university. We have students who don’t think they belong on a degree programme because they’re not smart enough. Or they are the first generation of a family to go to university and are unfamiliar with how things work.

We get postgraduate students who feel they’re not intelligent enough to do a higher degree, even though they’ve passed their first degree with flying colours.

Imposter syndrome is that feeling you get when you’re in a meeting or at a social event, and you look around and think should I be here? What happens if somebody finds out I’m here and shouldn’t be?

Imposter syndrome is a problem as it holds people back.

Yes, a lot of it comes down to self-belief and confidence, but we all get that nagging "do I belong here" — well, I do.

Does imposter syndrome exist in retirement?

Imposter Syndrome and retirement

Do people retire and think they don’t belong? They’re not a retiree?

Recently, I was chatting with three of my friends who have retired in the past 18 months, and it was striking that one of them loves the title of "retiree”, whereas the other two do not.

The one who loved being a retiree had taken early retirement and viewed retirement as a bragging right.

The other two had also taken early retirement but seemed embarrassed by their retirement. Was it embarrassment, or was it imposter syndrome?

A quick search of academic journals revealed numerous papers on imposter syndrome but nothing that addressed imposter syndrome in retirement. An overlooked field of study?

A search on Google turned up only a couple of blog posts on imposter syndrome and retirement. That was it.

OK, so how could you have imposter syndrome in retirement?

You are retired; you belong.

You have the “qualifications” to be retired — you have a pension, you’ve reached a certain age, and you’ve worked for many years. You have worked and saved for your retirement and pension. It is yours.

Furthermore, you deserve your retirement, yet you don’t feel you do.

I can see how you could have imposter syndrome in retirement because of your financial position. You question why you have a pension and feel you are not entitled to it — you worry that it could be taken away. Or, you could be "found out" that you shouldn’t have retired, it was a mistake, and you have to go back to work. Could that be it? Maybe, you feel you are too young to be a retiree?

I guess we will need to have self-belief in our choices and our retirement. Be kind to ourselves and recognise that we deserve it.

Don’t be an imposter.

Money — the Autumn Statement

I am not a financial advisor. I am writing about what I have read over the years about money and preparing to retire. This is not financial advice.

When is a Budget not a Budget? When it is an Autumn Statement. But it felt like a Budget to me. So that is what I a going to call it — a Budget.

Last week, I wrote about how I had got my maths wrong in calculating the gross income I would need for an essential, moderate or luxury income (see Issue Number: -62 - Looks like I had my pension income maths wrong). I had factored in National Insurance when it wasn’t payable on pension income.

Well, this week in the UK, we had an “Autumn Statement”, which was a bit more serious than the disaster “mini-budget” six weeks ago. This Budget (aka Autumn Statement) was to repair the damage done by the “mini” and sort out the mess that is the UK economy.

Looking at the Budget, it does not change my maths from last week.

The Budget announced a freeze in the tax and National Insurance thresholds until 2028. That is, the amount you can earn before paying tax or National Insurance will not increase. This is not bad news for pensioners unless they have a considerable pension.

Another plus in the budget was that the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the "triple-lock" on UK State Pensions would remain. Hence, there will be a 10% increase in the UK State Pension in April 2023. This is excellent news for pensioners because even though inflation will take a chunk out of the rise, it could have been much worse.

So, overall, no impact on my retirement plans.

Please note I am not a financial advisor. I am writing about what I have read over the years about money and preparing to retire. This is not financial advice.

Health

COVID-19 seems to have turned into a soup of variants in the UK, with no one variant dominant. But it is still out there. Plus, the flu is looking pretty bad and is now in the mix. So, if you haven’t had your COVID-19 booster and flu shot, now is the time to get them.

I had my COVID-19 booster and flu shot three weeks ago. No biggy. Both at once and with no after-effects.

Nostalgia corner

The other morning, I watched NASA’s Artemis I blast off to the moon.

Watching the launch live as I ate breakfast immediately blasted me back to my childhood in the late 60s and watching launches with my parents. It was as though the years hadn’t passed.

Back in the 60s, we were promised moon bases and flying cars. Where are they? I’m still waiting!

Useful links

UK Government Website:

• How to avoid pension scams

• Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances

• National Insurance

• Check your National Insurance record

• Estimate your Income Tax for the current year

• Check your State Pension forecast

Useful COVD-19 and flu links:

• NHS COVID-19 website — numerous links to information on COVID-19

• CDC COVID-19 website — many links to information on COVID-19

• NHS — Flu website

• CDC — Flu website

Next week

Next week, in issue -60, I will be looking at my hobby of walking and wondering if I can turn it into a side-hustle.

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. Writing about money and financial matters is based on things I have read over the years about money and preparing to retire. It is not financial advice.