2014 - review of objectives

In January 2014 I set myself a list of objectives for the year.

Unfortunately, 2014 was a rather disappointing year in most respects, due in part to circumstances beyond my control and in part to my own actions (or inactions). Here are the lacklustre details:

1. financially 2014 was a very average year - total return on my portfolio was enough to cover living expenses and more or less match inflation. The biggest drag on performance was the weakness in the AUD and, to a lesser extent, the NZD. On the positive side (i) I didn't do anything really stupid with my finances and (ii) expenses were reasonably well controlled;

2. fitness was a big fat negative - the "minor" foot injury of early January turned into a case of plantar fasciitis that took several months to remedy after I rather stupidly tried to keep running on it;

3. the degree has been a lot of fun - I am on track to complete the degree requirements by mid-2015. While I am a long way from being one of the better students in my intake, I have enjoyed studying an unfamiliar area, rewiring my ageing brain and getting to know a lot of interesting and new people. One of my tasks for 2015 is to line up my next project;

4. I failed to complete a first draft of my novel by year end - close but no cigar. In part because of time spent on the degree and in part because of an unexpected distraction which chewed up a lot of time in October - December (and which is still on going). The good news is that it is sufficiently advanced that a final version including editing will be completed by the end of 2015;

5. the miscellaneous housekeeping was a bottomless pit of tasks that resembled a hydra - overtime I completed one job, two others would raise their ugly heads. Currently outstanding: three lots of completely unnecessary window inspections, one application to boarding school, one passport renewal, one lost tax return to replace, follow up questions for my complaint to the Data Privacy Commissioner against a cold calling real estate agent who refuses to delete my personal data or to stop calling me, figure out Apple's useless Time Capsule being a few among the many items in the "to do" pile.

Hopefully 2015 will be a better, more productive and distraction free year.

Fraud prevention is a pain

While I appreciate the efforts that banks take to combat credit card fraud, two different banks have now caused me inconvenience through poor handling of the issue:

Bank A: bounced a cheque because I did not pick up the phone when they called to query the payment as a suspected fraud. (I was on a plane at the time.)  What was not explained to me is why they thought it was a fraud in the first place? The cheque was payable to a reputable financial institution and to which I write several cheques of similar amounts each year so I do not understand why they would think it might be a fraud? At least they had the decency to reverse the dishonour fee.

Bank B: rejected a credit card payment. Sure the payment was to a new merchant and was for a meaningful amount. So I can understand the bank querying this one. BUT, if they can call me to tell me that they have stopped the payment why couldn't they have called me to query the payment before it was rejected (like Bank A does with cheques)? Bank B's approach of rejecting first and asking questions later is very unimpressive.

In both cases, I told the recipients that the bank thought payment to them was a fraud but I would rather they thought ill of the bank than questioned my financial standing.

2014 - Moving Forward

2014 has the potential to be an important year for a number of reasons:

• it will be the first year in which I have to get used to having no employment related income. Not panicking as the cash goes out and the investments fluctuate will be a good test of my emotional discipline;
• with no job to go to, I will be time rich for the first time since I was a student. Making sure I use that time well will be a good test of my time management skills;
• I should have completed about three quarters of the post-graduate degree (more or less depending on which options I take). By that stage I should have a pretty good idea whether I have any potential as a writer.

In terms of objectives for the year:

Financial: as I have no control over what the markets do, I have limited ability to manage my investment returns in the shorter term. It would be really really nice if the broker forecasts for higher Hong Kong and China stock markets in 2014 proved accurate, but I am not holding my breath. Accordingly, the "don't do anything stupid" policy will apply and I will keep cash or near cash balances at reasonably high levels. I will continue to manage expenses without being excessively miserly;

Fitness: I was going to put the Hong Kong marathon down as the lead item for 2014, but I have done something to my foot/ankle and have not been able to do the training. There is a good chance I will not make the start this year. Just keeping up a regular exercise programme will be sufficient for 2014;

Degree: carry on with the post-graduate studies to the point where I have completed about three quarters of the degree by year end;

Novel: produce a complete first draft by year end. I don't care how rough it is and how many bits need to be redrafted - I just want to be able to say I've finished the first draft by year end;

Housekeeping: I have a number of housekeeping tasks (the list has a life of its own) such as updating my will (a hangover from 2013), redecorating our home (which we will do when we get a vacancy in our rental unit in the same development) and catching up on the backlog of photos to be printed for the album (most of 2013 needs doing). It's a long list;

Volunteer work: while I will continue to do some volunteer work, it may be a less than originally planned - the priorities are the degree and the novel.

Short. Simple. Focused. I don't need a lot of complexity in my life.

Longevity in retirement

Bloomberg carried this article entitled Retirement Will Kill You. In summary, the author concludes that the academic studies show that people who retire die sooner than those who don't. In particular, retirees suffer from an increase in clinical depression, a decline in self assessed health and increased difficulties with mobility. At least one study looks at the question of whether underlying health issues can explain the observed deterioration in physical and mental health among retirees and concludes that "retirement doesn't harm health - and may actually improve it". Another contradicts this by finding "harm from early retirement".

Having looked at some of the studies (and some earlier ones), my take is that retirement is not, of itself, the issue.

If retirement means reduced physical activity, reduced mental stimulation, reduced social interaction and a loss of purpose, then it is not surprising that retirees' health deteriorates.

If retirement means walking away from a stressful job that requires long hours and impedes participation in other activities and embracing other activities (mental, physical and social) then it is difficult to see how or why the supposed causes of retirees' health problems would arise. At a personal level, I have mapped out the first two years in some detail (academic studies, writing a novel, one last trailwalker, marathon, volunteering, some travel) and have agreed to remain as a very part time consultant as a transitional matter. Hopefully these activities plus the day to day stuff will give me all the stimulation of the office, keep me physically, mentally and socially engaged and will result in reduced stress levels.

Dell really sucks

I have written about my computer problems. The latest is that about 70% of my documents, photos etc will be recoverable. The forensics experts are still working on it so the recovery rate may well go up but I am told that it is very unlikely to get close to 100% and I will have to wait another two weeks to get it back with whatever has been recovered and a new hard drive. Realistically, I will be faced with the loss of at least some data that cannot be replaced.

While I do not blame Dell for selling me a laptop that fails after less than two years, I do blame Dell for providing zero customer support:

• the help line is well hidden and when I "press 3 for English" the result is a recorded message in Cantonese. Attempting to speak to the people who eventually answer the Cantonese or Mandarin help lines only results in being told that I must use the (non-existent) English help line. This is consistent with my experience with my previous dell laptop when the motherboard failed and had to be replaced
• e-mails to the (also well hidden) support e-mail address generated no response whatsoever*
• a message posted on their feedback site with an invitation to contact me produced no response whatsoever*

Dell has sent a very clear message that it does not give a ^$%#$ about its customers. Once you have purchased one of their products you are entirely on your own (even within the warranty period).

There are two Dell's that are currently in use in our home (and two older ones that we no longer use). By Q3 this year, that number will be reduced to zero. Dell has finally persuaded me to switch to Apple #. The only reasons for the delay is that Apple offers a small discount to students which I will be able to take advantage of later in the year. In the meantime, I am getting by with a combination of my work computer, iPhone and one of the original iPads.

The big decision is now - which Mac to get? I like the portability of the MacAir but I have a lot of photos and anticipate that I may need the larger flash memory that comes with the MacPro.


* and, yes, I have been checking my spam folder
# I gave some thought to getting a Lenovo Thinkpad given how reliable they have been for office use

Things that really suck

My laptop has failed after the computer was dropped. Having failed to fix the problem myself, I called in an expert and have been told that the hard drive is physically damaged and it will take a few weeks to find out whether all, some or none of the documents, photos etc can be recovered.

Back up? Yes I have an external drive on which everything backs up automatically once a week. At least it was supposed to - when I went to check, I found that the last weekly back up was done in early January. So I could be looking at a loss of four and a half months worth of financial records, photos, progress on my novel and other data.

Valentine's Day - and hating it

As Ebeneezer Scrooge might have said; bah, humbug!

Valentine's Day is one of my least favourite days of the year - it's right up there with filing tax returns and the annual visit to the dentist (which is considerably cheaper). The senseless exploitation of (mostly) men in the interests of enriching florists and restaurateurs has to be one of the most effective ways to build resentment and kill romance ever devised. It's as good a method of encouraging family planning as I've come across.

As usual, I will not be letting myself be gouged for overpriced flowers. However, we will be going out for dinner tonight ... we managed to find a place where we can enjoy a quiet meal together without being irked by an over-the-top price tag.

And yes, I am very grateful that Mrs Traineeinvestor's views on Valentine's Day are the same as mine.

Kung Hei Fat Choy

A slightly belated welcome to the year of the snake. If you want to be precise about it, according to Chinese astrology, the new lunar year is a black water snake.

Not to be taken too seriously (or at all as far as I am concerned), I was told that my personal horoscope tells me that my career will be under pressure this year. Give that I will be retiring in a matter of months (exact date still floating), I found this quite amusing.

2013 - Moving forward

After celebrating a fantastic 2012, it's time to put the empty bottles of Bollinger in the recycling bin, sober up and start thinking about 2013.

1. Retirement: my employer has been informally notified that I will be retiring mid-year which means that the decision to retire is now locked in. The exact date will be fixed nearer the time and will depend on work needs at that time. This effectively defines and drives much of what I need/want to do in 2013.

2. Finances: even before the year end rally we were financially independent. The subsequent upsurge and the extension of paid employment to mid-2013 gives us an extra boost on the financial front. On a cautionary note, I do not and should not expect my investments to keep going up. There will be years when they go down - sometimes a lot. I can't prevent this from happening which makes the issue one of dealing with the market's fluctuations rather than attempting to avoid them. From a financial perspective, the main points are:

• don't do anything stupid. This primarily means, not buying into over priced markets, keeping my exposure to speculative stocks small and avoiding investments which benefit financial intermediaries more than they do me;
• keep looking for effective ways to achieve greater diversification with our investments. This is a perennial issue and one that I have only executed to a very limited extent;
• keep living expenses below 2012 levels. Given the blow out in the cost of our holidays, this should not be difficult. It might be better to rephrase with the objective of trying to limit the inflationary and other increases in our cost of living; 
• between me working for about six months and Mrs Traineeinvestor working part time, we should still generate some savings this year. A back of the envelope calculation suggests that the combination of salaries for part of 2013 and dividends/interest for 2013 and 2014 may meet our household budget for all of 2013 and 2014. If so, this is great news as it means that we will not need to touch principal or rely on capital gains for at least the next two years;
• one of our Hong Kong properties will become debt free in April 2013. If property prices were lower/yields more attractive, I would consider gearing up and buying another property. However, given the current state of the market, sitting back and watching the cash flow hitting the bank account seems more sensible;
• absent new investments, we will have a lot of cash by mid-year. Given the corrosive effects of inflation, finding suitable investments for this money is important but currently buoyant market conditions make it difficult. The idea of simply buying a property in New Zealand or some blue chip stocks as a long term store of value and generator of at least some cash is appealing even if valuations are not all that attractive at this time;
• while I would give some thought to alternative investments and am tempted to add a few cases of wine as an investment (or some other collectible), illiquid investments which do not produce cash flow will never make up a material part of the portfolio.

3. Lifestyle: the issue here is to successfully transition from a full time occupation where my days (and often my nights) are filled with things to do to not working where it is up to me to keep myself gainfully occupied. The main points:

• being pro-active in maintaining and expanding social contacts. Historically, most of my social activities have been linked to work and have happened with very little effort on my part. Going forward, I will need to be more pro-active in marinating theses contacts (and developing new ones). This is not a major concern - just something to monitor;
• follow through with the bucket-list. It's getting pretty long, which a good thing, so I really have no excuses for not keeping myself mentally stimulated;
• complete a first draft of the novel. Absent some major dislocation to my life, there should be no excuse for not achieving this;
• maintain the fitness regime. While it is unlikely that I will do another trailwalker, I'd like to keep doing an annual marathon for at least a few more years.

4. Miscellaneous: there are a handful of miscellaneous issues that need to be addressed:

• new will. My current will was drafted on the basis that there would be a payout under a life insurance policy should anything happen to me. As I will be cancelling the life insurance policy, I need to update my will;
• cancel my term life policy. By definition if there is enough money to support me and my family then there is enough money to support the family without me;
• move the family's medical policy from my employer sponsored scheme to my wife's employer's scheme.

And that's about it for the headline items.

The perks of being unplugged

I have just returned from a family holiday to Australia. It has been close to a decade since my last visit and since I have some money invested there and from time to time consider sending some more money down under, a few observations are in order.

One of the first things that struck me was the comparative rarity of free WiFi. Hotels were charging AUD20 per day for WiFi access. A very few restaurants (i.e. one) and airport departure lounges would offer free WiFi to customers. That was it - any other on line access had to be paid for. Since being unplugged is not the easiest thing in the world, I made the decision to largely do without. I ended up checking on e-mails and a few other things a total of three times over the course of 10 days and enjoyed it. Being unplugged for several days not only had a calming effect, but I also found more time to think and was more interested in getting out to see and do things.

The second obvious thing was that Australia rivals London for the title of the most expensive place I have been to. Meals in restaurants cost about double what a comparable meal costs in Hong Kong. Taxis are 2 - 2.5 times the cost of taxis in Hong Kong. The running shoes I normally buy are 50-60% more expensive than in Hong Kong. A can of soft drink from a convenience store is about twice the cost in Hong Kong (even allowing for the slightly larger can size). But for all of that, Australia is very obviously an affluent society. An article from the 27 December, 2012 edition of the Australian Financial Review noted the following:

• average household wealth rose 6.6% to a record AUD868,000
• the rise was driven more by increased savings than rising asset prices
• while total household debt as a percentage of household disposable income has stayed roughly flat in the last five years, net household debt (total debt less interest bearing assets) fell from 42% of household disposable income in 2006 to 35% in 2012

Australia's compulsory and flexible superannuation regime has a lot to do with the strength of household balance sheets. When it comes to financing an affordable and sustainable retirement, Australia has implented something that actually works - both for the individual retirees and for the taxpayers who are invariably left picking up the pieces when politicans make promises that can never be kept.

Service levels were very good - and consistently so. Perhaps a notch short of what we commonly find in places in Asia, but miles ahead of the US, the UK or Europe.

Australia is definitely a country I would like to spend more time in, but costs are so high as to be an issue.

Some new Hong Kong blogs

Hong Kong focused personal finance and investment blogs are few and far between so it was good to see two new additions:

• The Investment Portfolio from Aspiring Investor
• My Investment Portfolio from Bean Counter

I have added them to my blog roll and look forward to following their progress.

A shortage of safe deposit boxes

You would think that in a city like Hong Kong which is a significant financial centre it would be easy to rent a safe deposit box?

It's not.

The small safe deposit box we currently have is getting close to full so we made inquires about changing to a larger box. No chance. None at all. Plan B was to rent a second small box. No chance there either. Apparently there is a shortage of safe deposit boxes in Hong Kong. The banks are not really interested in providing them because the rental they can charge on the boxes is low compared to the cost of renting or owning the property in which the safe deposit boxes are held.

So far I have drawn a blank with both HSBC and BOCHK - neither have any boxes available for rent. We can get by without a bigger/second box but at some point we will have to move documents like our wills out of the box and keep them at home.

A few observation on a trip to London

I have just returned to Hong Kong after a week spent in London on business. A few random observations:

1. The flights in both directions were full with waiting lists for business class. Given how inflated business class has become, I can't see myself doing much flying in business class once I have to lay for it myself;
2. The parts of London I was in seemed to be doing well and there was a general feeling of optimism regarding economic prospects. As I was mostly confined to the better areas of central London and dealing with people from the top tax bracket who were either bankers or people who provide services to banks. The negatives were largely connected with government revenue grab and the on-going Euro zone issues;
3. There was universal pessimism about London's ability to be ready for the Olympics and considerable condemnation of the way the preparations have been managed;
4. London real estate is very expensive;
5. Even with 20% VAT many consumer goods are much cheaper in London than they are in Hong Kong - including made in China sports shoes (about 30-40% cheaper) and books;
6. I loved Foyles and Waterstones book stores - I really really hope these stores survive for the longer term (unlike many book stores in other countries which have failed I the face of digital books and on-line order facilities);
7. The much vaunted London curries were not as good as the ones I can get in Hong Kong. Tapas and pub food were much better;
8. The traffic was terrible (as usual);
9. The live theatre/entertainment/gallery etc space was fabulous.

Of course, all this is off the back of a small sample size - one vistor's business trip - but, on the whole, I was impressed and hope to spend more time there post retirement.

You know you've been spending too much time in the air when....

....you get upgraded to first class for free. Looking forward to a few weeks on the ground.

The upside is that I'll have enough Asia miles for a few long haul upgrades after I retire. We're already discussing travel plans.

BOC centenary bank notes: a rational frenzy

The last two days saw extremely long queues outside fifty Bank of China branches across Hong Kong as people scrambled to buy a special issue of bank notes celebrating the founding of the Bank of China in 1912. People were queueing for several hours and in many cases were disappointed. Police were highly visible and in places set up barriers to control the crowds. When I went to the local BOC branch for some unrelated business yesterday, the entrance I usually use was barricaded shut and I had to navigate my way past the throng before getting inside.

The size of the crowds exceeded those seen during the McSnoopy craze or the release of the iPad or iPhone 4s. It was also interesting to observe the mix of people lining up to get their hands on the notes - all age groups were well represented, there were far more men than women and almost not foreigners. The Hong Kong Standard mentioned that some of the buyers were representing syndicates from the mainland.

The $100 legal tender notes were being sold for $150 each with a limit of two per person. In the secondary market they were (reportedly) selling for upwards of $2000, although most reported sales were for lesser sums. Assuming the typical buyer resold for HK$1200 profit, that is not a bad return for the effort and capital involved. For many in Hong Kong, it is not far away from one week's wages making the act if participating in the process a very rational one.

The fact that the queues remianed orderly, in spite of some people being disappointed, relecting on the extensive experience Hong Kongers have in standing in queues.

Finally getting a smart phone.....

After many years of abuse, I finally had to concede that my Nokia had reached the end of its functional life.  I think I purchased it back in 2004 which would mean it lasted for about seven years.

Its replacement was an iPhone 4s.  Since I already have the iPad, I went with the Apple product on the assumption that the interface would already be familiar to me.  No problems so far (apart from the children using it as an entertainment device).

The only irritant was changing the service plan from voice only to voice + unlimited data.  It took a personal visit to the shop, seven phone calls and two e-mails to achieve this.  Each phone call required my personal details to be verified.  Four of the seven phone calls involved listening to some really awful hold music.  Clearly the phone companies don't have a problem with competition.

As an aside, it is expected that the unlimited data packages will be phased out making mobile internet access more expensive (free wifi coverage is pretty limited in Hong Kong) so I locked myself in for two years which was the longest term they would offer.

De-cluttering the home

With the children growing up and our limited amount of shelf and cupboard space overflowing, it was long past time for a major de-cluttering operation.  After several months of procrastination we completed the task of weeding out things which we wouldn't be using again: clothes, toys and books that the children had grown out of, books that the adults were unlikely to read again and a large assortment of random items. Twenty five boxes in all (plus a few random items that wouldn't fit into the boxes) ended up being donated to the Salvation Army.

While it feels great to get the job done, sadly the apartment still feels very cluttered....

2012 Moving Forward (provisional)

As with previous years, I will not be making any resolutions for 2012.  Instead, I will follow my practice of using the new year as a convenient time to review various objectives, both in terms of either setting new ones or abandoning old ones and assessing progress.

1. retirement:  my target retirement date has moved around a lot over the last few years.  A year ago, I had intended to retire early this year.  While the numbers still make sense, the losses suffered in 2011 on my equity investments have dented my confidence to the point where I would like to continue working for "just one more year".  I will not be able to make a definitive decision on this until I come off contract early this year and, if I am offered a new contract, I know what the terms will be.  The work/not work decision will affect many of my other objectives for 2012, making this review very much a provisional one (although based on the assumption that I will continue working, although with a cut in income).

2. finances: the main objectives for my finances in 2012 are:

• maintain a healthy savings rate.  The actual rate will depend on the new terms, but will likely be well below the rates achieved in the last three years
• end the year with at least 2-3 years worth of expenses in cash/near cash.  I currently sit on 35.5 months worth
• look to diversify the portfolio.  The loss of the Lyxor ETFs has made this process harder

I will not be making early repayments on the mortgages - all are currently costing less than 1% (new mortgages would probably cost at least 2.25%).  This includes the home mortgage - a subject which I will revisit once I actually retire.

3. home renovation project: whether this gets done in 2012 or 2013 does not matter.  However, we have to be ready to do it when one of our larger rentals becomes vacant.

4. writing: a repeat of last year's objective.  This year I am setting myself the target of reaching at least 200 pages of material (including what I have written already).

5. health and activities:  I will do the HK marathon next month (absent illness or injury) but am undecided about doing the Hong Kong Trailwalker this year.  Diet is something of an issue, especially the excessive consumption of sugar.

6. skill set: I made some progress on the tech front in 2011 and would like to do more in 2012.  Photography is one area I would like to do better at.  I also want to look into self publishing on Kindle or other platforms as an alternative to traditional publishing.

7. preparation for retirement: I am more or less there.  The biggest outstanding item is medical insurance - my firm policy can be extended into retirement at the discretion of the insurer and I will not know whether this will happen until I have actually given notice.  There are a number of lesser items which can all be done while I am serving out my notice period.

There is nothing else that particularly comes to mind, though this will have to remain provisional until my employment situation is sorted out.

Visiting New York

I have just returned from my third visit to New York. I really really like that city. Of course, as a short term visitor staying in the better areas, it's easy to find experiences to enjoy.

In between work related commitments, we took in three shows on Broadway, spent some time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (nowhere close to being sufficient), visited the Guggenheim, took in a slow walk through Central Park and ate too much.

A few observations:

• Shoes made in China are cheaper in New York (even with the NY sales tax) than in Hong Kong.
• The city did not feel busy. Maybe my comparisons are off, but for the most part it does not feel as busy as Hong Kong.
• Food portions in restaurants are huge.
• Service standards are better than Europe (an admittedly low threshold) but not as good as most places in Asia.
• We noticed that some places added 15% to the bill as a mandatory tip while other left it to our discretion (with 15% or more being expected). The former nearly caught us out the first time - we came close to double tipping.

The only negative was the 19 hour delay on the return flight with Cathay. These things happen but turn a long tiring journey into a really exhausting experience. That said, the cabin crew really did everything that could be expected on the service front.

Hopefully we will go again next year.

2011 - moving forward

I'll stick with the popular position of denouncing New Year resolutions and (as usual) will not make any for this year. However, as with previous years, I will take the opportunity to review a number of objectives and goals.

As there is a possibility that 2011 will be my last full working year, the objectives include a number of one-off items that need to be completed before I pull the trigger:

1. maintain a healthy savings rate. My savings rate for 2010 was above 50% (I don't have the exact numbers yet) and I will aim to beat that benchmark again this year;

2. start shifting the asset portfolio to be closer to my post-retirement structure. One change will be to have 2-3 years worth of living expenses in the form of cash or near cash. Bonds with less than three years to maturity count as near cash for these purposes and I am indifferent as to which currencies the cash is denominated in. At present I have less than half the target amount in cash/near cash. I would also like to achieve slightly greater diversification across asset classes as a means of reducing risk (rather than seeking better returns);

3. maintain my investment focus. I've had two very good years with the investments. While I lost money in 2008, it wasn't that much and was actually a decent result considering the extent of the declines in equity markets generally. I do not wish to delude myself that I am smarter than the market or any kind of investing "Warren Buffet next door" - that's a good way to lose focus and lose money;

4. decide what to do with the mortgage on our home. If I retire in early 2012, I will either need to carry a mortgage into retirement or sell some investments to repay it. I like the idea of having the home paid off when I stop working but I also like the idea of borrowing at less than 1% interest to invest in higher yielding assets as well;

5. keep monitoring expenses. Inflation made a noticeable impact on our expenses in 2010, mostly in the form of higher school fees, higher travelling costs, higher food costs and higher costs of high end Bordeaux. I can eliminate the Bordeaux with no impact on our lifestyle (it is mostly for investment), but there is nothing that can be done about either the school fees or the food and cutting the travel budget will impact our lifestyle;

6. get a full medical done. I had one done early last year. With the medical insurance possibly lapsing when I retire, I want the confirmation that I have no serious medical issues before I pull the trigger. (Continuation of the policy is at the discretion of the insurance company, and I won't find out until after I hand in my notice.) Target date for this will be either late 2011 or early 2012;

7. get the tech skills in line. I will lose the tech support my firm currently provides when I retire. While there are support services I can pay for, I really should teach myself how to do more of it myself. I'm keeping a list of things I need to be able to do and will work my way through the list during the year;

8. home renovation project. Our current home is now 11 years old. Parts of it need work now and the bits that don't might as well be done at the same time. The debate I am having with mrs trainee investor is whether to do it bit by bit while we are still living here or move to a serviced apartment for four months and get it all done in one go. The former is much cheaper and involves less inconvenience while the latter is less disruptive;

9. given my injury issues, I have not set myself any sporting objectives this year. I'll keep plugging away at it and see what happens. As an aside, a number of my planned post-retirement activities were based on physical activity levels that may now prove to be unrealistic. I will look to develop some other interests to fill the gap;

10. make some progress on the fantasy novel. Progress in 2010 was minimal (about 50 pages). I'd like to do better this year, but that will depend on how busy I am at work;

11. shift the focus of my social network from work related contacts to others.

That's about it.