The Retirement Newsletter: Welcome to 2022! Happy New Year!
Issue Number: -107 — Looking forward to 2022
Welcome
Welcome to 2022 and newsletter -107 (yes, I am still counting down the number of weeks until I retire).
I hope you had a pleasant break over the festive period — mine was strange.
I teach at a university, and the first term of this year felt like one of the longest terms I have ever taught. Having a week of pre-term teaching to help students who, thanks to COVID-19, had missed parts of the previous year did not help. To the early start, the university also added an extra week at the end of term. Plus, we seem to be going back a week earlier after the break. In fairness, Christmas and New Year at the weekend has caused the early start to term 2.
The early start to term 1, the late end to term 1, and what feels like an early start to term 2 means the break has not been very long. I came into the break exhausted, and I am leaving the break exhausted. Add in that I know I am going back to a lot of marking and teaching preparation that I should have finished before the break, then it feels like a strange festive period. And yesterday, I came across a word that describes the break and the feeling I have, stresslaxing - “verb, being stressed that relaxing makes you more stressed because you're not working on what's making you stressed”
Anyway, in this week's newsletter, I will look at 2022. I will make some predictions and share my new year resolutions. And this could all go wrong.
Welcome to 2022
So, welcome to 2022. And the big question is, can it be any worse than 2021? The answer has to be no; it can't be worse — I will be optimistic for 2022. Yes, some grey clouds are floating around, but overall, I think it will be a good year.
Predictions for 2022
OK, here we go, and I will put these into two groups — the good and the bad. (I was going to do the good, the bad and the ugly, but I couldn't think of any ugly predictions.)
The Good
OK, so here is my good list:
A pan-specific COVID-19 jab will become available. That is, there will be a COVID-19 jab that will cover all variants and be a single jab with no booster required. Such a vaccine is possible, but we may not get it for a few years.
Scientists will find a treatment for long-COVID. I see more and more stories of people suffering from long-COVID, so we need a better understanding of the condition and better treatments.
The stock markets will continue to perform well, and our pension pots will continue to grow.
Global energy prices will stabilise and return to pre-2021 levels. In Europe, we have seen a massive increase in petrol and natural gas prices. It is a classic example of supply and demand. We have seen petrol prices increase by about 20%. Natural gas prices for consumers are forecast to increase by 50%. Neither of these increases are good for my retirement plans.
OK, so the above are not predictions, more my hopes and dreams. But a chap can dream.
The Bad
OK, so here is my bad list.
More variants of COVID-19 — this will happen. However, it could be good news or bad. The virus could become less damaging to health. The virus won't become less infectious, as a less infectious variant will not outcompete omicron to become dominant.
Energy prices will continue to rise. (This is me covering my bases.)
We will all need at least one more COVID-19 jab, if not two.
Resolutions for 2022
I could roll out the same resolutions every year — well, almost. Anyway, here are my 2022 resolutions:
Lose some weight. Yep, that one has been on the list for about 30 years.
Get fitter — this is another one that has been on the list for 30 years. Although, in fairness, I am fitter now than I have been for a few years, but I could still improve things.
Work fewer hours. Guess what? That has been on the list for about 30 years. I'm contracted to work a certain number of hours per week, and I typically 30-40% over my contracted time.
Declutter the house — another one that has been on the list for 30 years.
Keep working on my pension plan — that has been on the list for a few years and is progressing well. However, I will know how things are progressing next week when I carry out a quarterly review.
Give up smoking — actually, I don't smoke. Never have. But, I think it is always good to have something on your New Year's Resolution List that you know you will achieve.
Keep The Retirement Newsletter running. I could add something about increasing the number of subscribers through marketing campaigns. But to be honest, I am not concerned about the number of subscribers. Yes, it is nice to know my work is being read. However, I would rather the newsletter grow organically and not through some gimmicky marketing campaign that attracts readers that are not interested.
Being almost perfect, I cannot put many things on my list of resolutions!
Have you got some resolutions for 2022 you which to share? If you do, then please leave a comment below.
Useful links
OK, so this week, some links that might be useful as we emerge from the festive break.
If you do become ill with COVID-19 or the flu, you may find these health-related websites useful:
NHS COVID-19 website — numerous links to information on COVID-19
CDC COVID-19 website — many links to information on COVID-19
And finally, the two safe travel sites:
Next week
Next week I will be carrying out a quarterly review of my retirement plans and identifying what is on track and what needs some work.
Thanks
Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter, and please don't hesitate to share it with your friends or on social media using the buttons below.
If you would like to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not buy me a cup of tea?
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.