The Retirement Newsletter: Spring is here, and my thoughts turn to my health and my pension pots
Issue Number: -43 — The days are getting longer
Welcome
Welcome to issue -43: Spring is here, and my thoughts turn to my health and my pension pots.
First, a slight confession, the above photograph was taken in the spring of 2016. The date on the photograph says May 2016, and it was early May — spring in the north of the UK, where the photograph was taken, arrives later than in the south where I now live. But I have seen lambs in the local fields; I just haven’t been able to get close enough to take a photo.
Newsletter News
Two pieces of news about the newsletter.
Last week, I did my first ‘Cross-Post’ on Substack — I hope you didn’t mind me sending you some work by another author on Substack.
I did the cross-post because I thought a piece in another newsletter I follow — Face masks are dead, long live masks — was fascinating.
A few years ago, pre-COVID-19, I used to do a lot of travelling around South East Asia (if you are interested in my travels, you can read about them on my Medium account — NicksWanderings) and the attitude to face-mask wearing in that part of the world, pre-COVOD-19, was if you were ill, you wore a mask to protect your fellow countryman. I found it odd to see people wearing masks, and at the same time, uplifting that people cared about other people and didn’t want to spread illness.
Anyway, I Face masks are dead, long live masks was an interesting read, and you might enjoy it. Apologies if you didn’t.
The second bit of news is that I had an ‘email cull’ this week. Anyone who hadn’t opened my newsletter in 3 months was removed from the list. I lost about 10% of my subscribers, but keeping the list clean is worth it. A ‘clean’ list is important. A high number of unopened emails can cause future emails to be viewed as spam and blocked.
Speaking of subscribers, if you know anyone you think might be interested in my newsletter, please forward them a copy of the newsletter.
Spring
Well, spring has sprung.
The snowdrops have been and gone.
The crops are coming up in the fields.
The Bluebells are shooting up.
The woods are turning green.
And the trees are in bloom.
Spring is here, and I am thinking about my health and pension.
Health
I am not a medical doctor, and I am not a mental health worker. What I have written below are my thoughts and observations, and it is not medical advice.
Spring always makes me think about my health — see Issue -96: Spring is here and I’m thinking about my health for spring 2022.
Last year, I wasn’t concerned about much and split my health concerns into Physical and Mental.
Physical Health
As I said last year:
“Physical health – aches, pains, temperature, blood pressure, et cetera – is, compared to mental health, the easier one to keep an eye on as there are various things you can measure using equipment you can buy at your local pharmacist.”
And I have been keeping an eye on my physical health.
As I said in Issue -56: Happy New Year — am I starting my last full calendar year in employment?, my health resolutions for 2023 were:
Lose some weight.
Get fitter.
And while I am walking more, so I should be getting fitter, my weight is moving in the wrong direction. I need to work on that.
Also, in 2022, I started to develop some little niggling pains in my joints. I spoke to my GP, who said, ‘lose some weight’, and I had a battery of blood tests. Investigations are ongoing, but so far, nothing to worry about.
While I was at the GP, I had my blood pressure checked, and it was running a bit high (again), so I am now the proud owner of a blood pressure machine. I take some readings every few weeks, and while a little high, there seems to be nothing to worry about.
The bottom line — keep an eye on things. I have seen a change in my physical health in the past 12 months, and I hope to get some answers about what is causing the changes.
Mental Health
Mentally, I view myself as a ’strong’ person. I have had depression, I get anxious, I get stressed, but nothing serious other than the occasional bout of SAD (Issue Number: -48 — Suffering from the winter doldrums). Nothing has needed intervention from a professional. But, over the last year, I have experienced some issues, mainly with stress — most of which are caused by my job.
What I am finding works well for my mental health and stress levels are long walks in the country and the occasional use of a meditation app when I can’t get out for a walk. And the meditation App has surprised me in that it works. After a six-minute session, my heart rate decreases, and I feel better.
So, keep an eye on your mental health. Reduce your stress levels, get fit, and enjoy the spring.
If you are experiencing mental health issues, I have included some useful links at the end of this newsletter.
I am not a medical doctor, and I am not a mental health worker. What I have written above are my thoughts and observations, and it is not medical advice.
Money
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.
Well, the UK budget had very little impact for most people saving for their retirement in the UK. I think two changes and one non-change are relevant to people saving for retirement or now retired.
First, the LTA — Lifetime Allowance. The LTA is the money you can have in your pension pot before being heavily taxed. Currently (March 2023), it stands at £1,073,100, which will be abolished in April 2024. This does not impact the majority of pension savers, as we get nowhere near this figure.
The second change was the amount you could save tax-free annually into your pension. This is being increased from £40,000 to £60,000 per year. Again, this will unlikely impact most people contributing to a pension.
Finally, the tax-free allowance (the amount of money you can earn before paying tax) was not raised. This effectively means a reduction in the value of our pensions, as the tax-free allowance has not increased in line with inflation.
Most people saving for a pension gain no advantage, and people already taking their pension are seeing a decrease in the value of their income.
However, the scraping of the LTA may impact people about to cash in their lump sum and convert it to a pension, as the amount of money you can convert is a percentage of the LTA. With the LTA removed, does that mean more can be converted?
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.
Useful links
Some useful UK mental health links:
Samaritans phone 116 123 — https://www.samaritans.org
No Panic (anxiety) 0844 967 4848 — https://www.nopanic.org.uk
Non-Emergency NHS Helpline: 111 — https://www.nhs.uk
Mind — Side by Side — https://sidebyside.mind.org.uk
Online mental wellbeing community — https://www.kooth.com
SAM App — Anxiety Management — https://sam-app.org.uk
Smiling Mind — Mindfulness App — https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app
Symptoms of dementia — https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dementia/symptoms/
Next week
Next week in issue -42 will be the end of the quarter and time for a quarterly review of my retirement plans.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you would like to contribute something to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.