My Coronavirus Crisis Experience – June Update

Nick Everything Else events, health 4 Comments

A couple of months ago I wrote this blog post about my experience of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. Two months on, I thought it was time I provided another update.

As I said before, I live on my own since my partner, Jayne, passed away a few years ago. I am lucky to live in a fairly large house with a good-sized garden, so being mostly confined to home hasn’t been as big a challenge for me as I’m sure it has for some. Also, I am well used to working from home, having done this for the last 30 years or so.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the crisis hasn’t affected me in a variety of ways. As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I will (again) start off with that…

Financial

At the time I wrote my last update, world stock markets were in free fall. I was naturally concerned to see my equity-based investments – and in particular my pension fund – tumbling in value. Being 64 and semi-retired with my SIPP in drawdown, this was particularly worrying for me. But I tried to follow my own advice and avoid panicking and selling up.

Thankfully, in recent weeks stock markets have made an astonishing recovery. I am pleased to say that my pension fund and other equity-based investments are mostly back to near pre-Covid levels (and even in some cases above them).

Below is a copy of the six-month chart for my Nutmeg stocks and shares ISA. At one point this was down to just over £10,000 in value, but in just a few weeks it has climbed back to over £15,000. Admittedly I did put in an extra £1,000 when the markets were (as things stand now) close to their lowest point. Even so, it’s been an impressive rally.

Assuming there is no major second wave of the virus – and world-wide there has been no sign of that so far – I am hopeful that the recovery will continue over the longer term. Of course, there are likely to be bumps along the way, and in the short term at least we face the likelihood of an economic recession. Even so, I am keeping my fingers crossed for a recovery over the next year or so, and am continuing to invest cautiously where I see value.

As mentioned in this recent post, I did also decide to invest £7,000 – the proceeds of another maturing investment – in another vehicle for Buy2LetCars. As regular readers will know, I’ve had one (new) car with this car loan investment platform for about two years now, and the monthly repayments have been coming through like clockwork. So I decided to invest my £7,000 (the minimum investment with Buy2LetCars) in another car – a pre-owned one this time, of course.

I particularly liked the idea of investing again with Buy2LetCars, as they lease vehicles to key workers such as nurses and other NHS staff (along with teachers, prison officers, police, and so on). These people all need cars for their (essential) work. They are responsible individuals, and have every incentive to look after the vehicles (though as they are fully insured, investors don’t bear any risk from accidents themselves).

Unfortunately Buy2LetCars don’t tell you who has leased ‘your’ car, but I like to think the ones I have bought are providing transport and security for two hard-working NHS nurses at this moment 🙂

In May I received a modest but nonetheless welcome payment from the government’s Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). I was pleased to hear recently that the government is extending this for a further three months, albeit at a slightly lower rate. It does help a lot at this uncertain time, and I know for many self-employed people it has provided a lifeline.

Personal

Thankfully I have managed to avoid contracting the virus so far. I know a local family who probably all had it, but they are thankfully well recovered now.

I also know people who have been badly affected by the lockdown. One young man of my acquaintance was furloughed from his job and became depressed alone in his bedsit. He started drinking excessively and wound up in hospital, where he spent several days being detoxed and having his liver checked out. Thankfully he doesn’t appear to have suffered any long-term damage, but it does demonstrate the stress many people are under right now. As I’ve said before on PAS, it’s more important than ever to keep in regular touch with friends, relatives and neighbours, especially if they live on their own.

As for myself, I am doing my best to keep on an even psychological keel. Like everyone else, there are things I am missing. Top of the list is seeing friends and relatives, going for days out, pub lunches, and so forth. I am also missing swimming (which is probably affecting my fitness as well). And I am really missing seeing my hairdresser. For the first time in my life, I have been wishing that, like many men of my age, I had gone bald 😉

At least two concerts I booked tickets for were cancelled. I have also had to cancel two holidays this year (so far). I have just one other holiday arranged, a short break in Minehead in September. I am optimistic that this will still go ahead, though how exactly it will be affected by social distancing and other anti-virus measures remains to be seen.

I am very glad that the panic buying has stopped now, though certain things can still be difficult to buy locally. Supplies of flour, eggs and rice are still variable, and I found it more difficult than expected to get a bag of compost for the garden. Supermarket shopping – as I’m sure you know – is a very different experience these days. You have to allow time for queuing outside beforehand, and expect to be marshalled inside the store as well. But things generally are far better than they were, so I’m certainly not complaining.

I still take daily walks – sometimes even two now as the rules about that have eased. I particularly enjoy going out in the (fairly) early morning. The air seems fresher and there are fewer people about, so less need for zig-zagging to preserve social distancing. I also find it sounds more natural to say ‘Good morning’ or just ‘Morning’ to people I pass. ‘Good afternoon’ is a mouthful and makes me sound like the village policeman, while ‘Hello’ just sounds lame. It’s a shame English doesn’t have an equivalent all-purpose expression to the French ‘Bonjour’!

As the crisis has continued, I have been watching less and less TV. Partly there hasn’t been much that has captured my interest, and my attention span for things like films has reduced. In addition, I have found the endless debate about the virus – and especially the negative tone of much of it – depressing and demoralizing. Instead I have been watching a lot of catch-up comedy and drama, and DVD box-sets.

Among the latter, I am enjoying Deep Space Nine, a Star Trek spin-off series (actually seven series) that I mostly missed first time round. And for light relief, I am watching The Brittas Empire, a 1990s sitcom with Chris Barrie set in a leisure centre. I highly recommend this for a bit of undemanding, escapist fun!

I have also just finished re-watching The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter, again on DVD. If you haven’t seen this, it’s a brilliant, multi-layered, musical drama serial, superbly written and acted. Since I first watched it I have acquired a lot more experience of hospitals (where much of the action takes place) so that has given me a new perspective on the show. I was also struck that in the days when it was made, there was clearly nothing unusual about patients being allowed to smoke in their hospital beds. How times have changed!

Finally on the subject of media, as I indicated above, I have become disillusioned with much of the reporting around the pandemic, which has become increasingly negative and politicized. But I do enjoy following Professor Karol Sikora on Twitter. Professor Sikora is a well-respected cancer specialist with a doctorate in immunology. He offers a positive and generally optimistic view, informed by science and statistics. He doesn’t have a political axe to grind and is willing to give the government credit for things they have done well and criticize things they have done badly. If you want one person to follow for unbiased news about the pandemic with a measure of cautious hope for the future, I highly recommend checking out his Twitter page.

Moving on, one other thing I’ve noticed in recent weeks is that I’m not spending as much money as I did before. Obviously I’m paying less for stuff like petrol, public transport, meals and drinks out, and so on. But I have also become more miserly about buying other things, even online. I’ve cancelled all my magazine subscriptions, and also been actively looking for other opportunities to save money. From what I have seen and heard, I am not alone in this. I guess it comes down to the strange and uncertain times we are living through. I think that, both consciously and unconsciously, I am trying to save as much as I can to try to ensure that I have a decent financial cushion whatever the future holds.

And finally, I realized the other day I haven’t spent any actual cash since the lockdown began! Payment by card is preferred everywhere and in some places is the only payment option accepted. The pandemic has probably accelerated our progress towards becoming a cashless society.

So that has been my experience of the coronavirus crisis to date. I do of course appreciate that I am in a fortunate position compared with many other people. I hope you and your family are coping in these strange and worrying times as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. If you have any comments or questions, as always, please do post them below.