Part 245

I hope you enjoyed the different introduction to this week’s post. I had fun putting it together.

The Election

What a clusterfuck voting turned out to be.  On Thursday after we had finished work, we went over to our local polling station.  Oana is now a British citizen and has been for almost three years.  She’s had a British passport for almost that long.  A few weeks ago she checked that she was eligible to vote, and received an email reply confirming she was.  However, she was blocked from voting.  The excuse given was that they didn’t know she was British, despite holding her passport and being presented with evidence that she had been told she was eligible to vote.  

All of this is bad enough, but the way it was handled was also annoying.  Our polling station is inside a church, with the main desk and booths being inside the main hall.  In front of a large line of people waiting to vote the election staff kept stating, loudly, that she could not vote and that her name had a line through it.  They made her feel like a criminal or second-class citizen.  It has angered and upset both of us.  I was able to cast my vote, but the way Oana was treated was racist.  I don’t use that word lightly; it’s the only word that fits.  We will definitely be following this up.  

It’s been amazing watching the meltdowns on social media as some people are stressing that Labour is now in power.  I don’t get it.  I mean, yeah Labour aren’t perfect, but perfect should not get in the way of better, and we’re at the stage where almost anything would be better than the corrupt, incompetent, shitshow that the Tory party is.  Many things are wrong with our political system, but just like you don’t fret about the carpets when your house is burning down we shouldn’t worry about things we can’t immediately change.  

What more does it take to turn the final Tory supporters against the party? We’ve had;

• Thousands of avoidable deaths.
• Billions of taxpayer funds wasted.
• Breaking the law.
• Racism and dishonesty.

What more does it take?

How about Jacob Rees-Mogg sprawled out in the House of Commons like it’s his own private lounge?

How about Dominic Raab remaining on holiday as Afghanistan fell into anarchy because he thought “the sea was closed”?

Boris Johnson?

Brexit?

At least they are done now.  I think the Tory party is going to take a long time to recover from this beating.

Priorities for the New Government

It’s difficult to know where the government will focus.  There are so many things that need attention, like the war in Ukraine, the climate, the doctors’ strikes, the crumbling national infrastructure, the housing crisis, our place in the global community, the local environment with sewage in our waterways and unsafe drinking water, and these are just a few of the problems we are facing.  

One thing we need to accept is there’s likely to be no instant improvement.  It’s going to take time to repair the damage the Tories have done.  The new government’s behaviour must be cleaner than clean.  Public trust in our politicians needs to be repaired.

Weekly Update

There’s only one thing to discuss from last Sunday and that’s the England match.  Oana and I watched the game at my Dad’s place, sharing some snacks and drinks.  The company was great, as expected, but the match was so incredibly dull for the first 94 minutes.  Then, we had a moment of genius from Bellingham and a second goal from Kane in extra-time.  Although Bellingham scored first, his goal time came after Kane’s due to how the goal times are reported.  Bellingham scored in the 95th minute, yet Kane scored in the 91st minute.  

Before I get all sorts of comments about this, I fully understand why the goals are reported that way, I’m just pointing out how bizarre it may seem to those who don’t understand.  

I had Monday off work to attend a virtual DESMOND course; something to NHS provides to those with Type-2 diabetes.  It was not a good experience.  We are four years on from Covid, and you’d think that many people would have a decent familiarity with how video calls work.  You’d think it, and you’d be wrong.

There were twelve of us on the call including the two staff and so much video call etiquette was ignored.  People would keep their microphones on when not talking, meaning we got lots of background noise, and some people would move their devices around constantly meaning that the feed was moving all over the place.  The people running the session struggled to use the technology to display the slides correctly.  Overall, it was just a bit of a mess.  I’m not looking forward to the next meeting.

On Tuesday I had a Big Day Out with Poppy, taking her to the vet.  It’s always a struggle getting Poppy in her carrier.  We have to make sure all the doors are closed or else she will run and hide.  After a few minutes of struggle, we had her in the carrier and I walked her to the tram stop, and on to the vet.  Poppy is a beautiful lady and she makes friends wherever she goes.  Many people on the journey stopped to try and peek at her, and Poppy was pretty vocal.  

Pops has been overgrooming her belly and there’s a pink patch where the fur has all gone.  She doesn’t seem in discomfort though and she’s happy to let us pet her there.  We just want to make sure she’s not actually in discomfort by having a professional examine her.  This is the responsibility you take on when you bring a pet into your family.  They can’t speak our language so we have to learn to decipher what their body language and behaviour is telling us.  

On the subject of Poppy, she did something we’ve not seen from her before.  We had our windows cleaned with one of those telescopic cleaners and when she saw it she growled.  She actually growled.  It was bizarre, cute, and funny all at the same time.

You may remember that a few weeks ago I wrote about the neighbourhood cats.  One is a sweet little lady who always comes bounding over whenever I see her.  Oana and I called her Squirrel because of how she held her tail.  Well, we’ve now discovered her actual name; Rosie.  

Oana and I did our usual thing when we last saw her; crouched down talking to her and petting her.  Then a couple of kids came over and petted her.  We asked if they knew the cat and one of the kids said it was their grandma’s cat.  She’s called Rosie and is around 4 years old.  

As you will no doubt realise Oana and I love cats, and we are huge fans of our local cat cafe, Tabby Teas.  Unfortunately, they have announced a lengthy, albeit temporary, closure.  They need to give the cafe a deep clean as there is a real risk to the cats from cat flu.  As they are closing for an extended period they have decided to rehome all the cats.  This is heartbreaking as those cats are great, with their own personalities and quirks. 

A lot of people are feeling gutted that it’s come to this but if it’s best for the cats then it needs to be done.  We will be paying one last visit to the cafe before it closes to see the guys and bid them goodbye.

I had a follow-up consultation with the gastroenterologist on Wednesday to get the results of the pillcam I had a few weeks ago.  I wasn’t expecting it to show much, and I ended up being right in that prediction.  It’s good that I don’t have Crohn’s, but in some ways, it would be good to be able to point to something specific so I know how to treat it.  

On Saturday we tried a new Indian restaurant that runs a tapas-style menu, which is based on the top floor of a new hotel in the city centre.  It’s nice, spacious, and bright.  The staff were attentive and the menu looked amazing.  We ordered a good amount of food to share between the three of us.  

The food was a mixture of good and bad.  The onion tarts were great, as was the black dhal, but the rice was a complete rip-off; there’s no other way to say it.  One small pot of rice was £12.

The highlight of the meal was the onion bhaji rings which were incredible.  We ordered another portion and smashed through it. The biggest frustration was that they forgot about some of the food we ordered, and we ended up leaving the restaurant still hungry. They offered to make the food they’d missed but they told us it would take half an hour. We didn’t feel like waiting so we left. Overall, not a fantastic experience; some good and some bad.

We missed some of the England match as we were on our way to the restaurant.  However, we managed to get iPlayer up on my phone to watch the penalties.  It should be exciting that we’re now in the semi-final, but the performances have been so dull that I’m finding it hard to muster much if any, enthusiasm.  We have some talented players but it just seems like we struggle to really click and play as a team.

Diabetes UK Step Challenge

From July 1st until September 30th Diabetes UK are running a step challenge to raise money for their cause.  There are three step targets to choose from; 500k, 1m, or 1.7m.  I’ve gone for the 1.7m target.  It’s a tough target but I’d rather set an ambitious goal.  Also, I have some time off work during those three months to hammer out the steps.

If you’d like to follow my progress or make a donation, it can be done here:

https://step.diabetes.org.uk/fundraising/david4047

Letters to Oana

If you missed it, Part 2 of the series Letters to Oana is now live.

Looking Back

Part 13 of the Looking Back series is also live.

What I’m Doing

Listening: Earthburst Saga Book 8 by Craig A. Falconer (audible).

Watching: Euro 2024; Dark Matter (Apple TV).

Support Mortgage Advisor on FIRE

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Financial Update

Assets

Premium Bonds: £13,450.00.

Stocks and Shares ISA: £76,457.83.

Fuck It Fund: £145.97.

Pensions: £80,395.43.

Residential Property Value: £234,044.00. 

BTL Property Value: £151,029.00.

Total Assets: £555,522.23.

Debts

Residential Mortgage: £171,817.53. 

BTL Mortgage: £104,851.17.

Total Debts: £276,668.70.

Total Wealth: £278,853.53.

A few exciting updates this week as the election seems to have boosted the stock market.  My ISA has increased as has my pension, with the latter going above £80,000 for the first time.  I’ve seen differing figures for what the average person my age has in their pension, with reports ranging from £30k to £50k.  By those figures, I’m doing well.  The next big milestone is £100k.

I had wanted to get to £80k in both my ISA and pension by the end of 2024 and it looks like I should achieve this with time to spare. 

Another nice boost was the increase in the value of my properties as estimated by the bank.  In practical terms, it doesn’t mean much just now, but it gives some possible flexibility for extra borrowing if needed.

Some people are panicking about what the new Labour government means for FIRE planning.  The main worry seems to be centred on what could happen to ISAs.  I don’t think there’s much to worry about because any government that looks to raid ISAs will face a severe backlash.

There’s also the point that many people use ISAs to save for retirement.  If those balances are hit with taxes or restrictions, then the government will be left with a higher financial burden for those people when they retire.  The country needs more money and it has to come from somewhere, but hitting ISAs would be shortsighted.  

I think we will see increases in CGT, and IHT.  I also suspect we will see some tinkering with the income tax brackets, and we already know they will remain frozen until 2028 which is a tax increase in all but name. 

BTL Update

Now that the sale is in the hands of the solicitors I’m not expecting any updates until the whole process is ready to complete.  It can’t come soon enough.

That’s all for this week.  Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great week ahead.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer, nor should they be considered advice.  

If you want personalised financial advice, seek an appropriate professional.  If you are in financial difficulty, seek advice via the resources below:

StepChange

MoneyHelper

Biolink 

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bio.link/davidscothern.