The Retirement Newsletter: Into the home stretch?

Issue Number: -3.5 — How is it going?

Photo by Author — tea plantation — Cameron Valley Tea House, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia — the views across the tea plantations always made me think of the folds on the surface of a brain

Welcome

Welcome to issue -3.5 — into the homestretch.

It now feels like things are moving fast. I can see the finishing line. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

It feels like I am in my final days at work, and the start of my retirement is imminent. But I still have seven weeks to go, which feels like a long time.

Planning

I’ve been planning for my retirement for about 40 years.

The only piece of financial advice my father ever gave me was to make sure that I got a job with a good pension. And when I started working at a university in the UK, I had a good pension.

Unfortunately, over the years, changes have eroded the quality of the pension, but it is still a good pension compared to many.

Despite all my planning, the end feels quite chaotic.

So what is going on?

Well, as always, there are things that I need to do, and there are things that are happening that catch me by surprise.

Things I need to do