I see month-ends as a good opportunity to review how my retirement transition journey is progressing. When I started writing this blog I worked out each month represents one-third of one percent of the average remaining lifespan of a 60 year-old in the UK.
I find it motivating – not depressing – to know that since the year began I’ve used up one percent of what might be left of my life. It’s a reminder to make the most of every month, day, hour.
The C-word raised its ugly head for the first time in my review at the end of February. That surprised me, it feels like we’ve only been living with coronavirus for a couple of weeks. I guess that’s true of the lockdown and the daily updates on deaths and infections but it’s been part of our consciousness for quite a while now.
We certainly made the most of those first couple of weeks in March starting with our week away in Morocco. We basked in perfect weather in a smart hotel and enjoyed greatmeals every night– tapas, tajines, French, Italian – how I’m already missing restaurants so much.
We enjoyed what’s turned out to be our last night out on March 14th in Royal Leamington Spa. Had a great Turkish meal and spent the evening in a couple of bars – followed by an impromptu night in a hotel, this could turn out to be our last night for quite a while.
That same weekend we celebrated my oldest daughter’s 25th birthday as a family which is the last I’ve seen my kids and their partners.
I’ve managed to stay reasonably fit – did my first ever 10k race – and keep the weight off despite my hip injury and the closure of my gym and tennis club. Feeling less healthy though, achy and tired which could be overwork in the garden or coronavirus anxiety. It’s been a bad few weeks for sleeping and I’m still feeling a little manic. Would really like to get myself reading but just can’t settle right now.
Finances have taken quite a bit of a hit. Today I’ll be paying my business’s Corporation Tax and on top of that my small holding of shares, an ISA and one of my pensions have all dropped alarmingly these last few weeks. I’m not too worried though as I’m confident they’ll recover and I’ve got years to wait before my main pension starts.
Best news is that I now have a beautiful garden with a manicured, neatly edged lawn, shrubs planted, paving swept, beds dug and a new tidy seating area in the sun.
Me & Mrs Jones – good name for a song! – are doing alright too after the bickering of the holiday. Maybe the world situation is making us less petty or maybe we’ve realised that in this time of social isolation we’re all each other’s got!