Planning for Big Changes and Reacting to a Bigger Change
The year 2020 was supposed to be a very big one for me. In 2015 my husband and I committed to a five-year plan to take a break from working and go sailing around the world for a couple years. Deciding to take this step was pretty major for us, but also very natural. We had already purchased a previously owned 36-foot Hallberg-Rassy that had much of the equipment used for crossing oceans. We were encouraged at a cruising seminar to pursue the opportunity to travel around the world and not to wait until retirement. Others attending the seminar with us said, “Why wait? You’ve got the boat. You’ve got the money. You’ve got your health,” and delaying the plans to cruise the world meant those could all change. In fact, we purchased our boat from a man who, sadly, was unable to follow his plans due to illness.
We set about on our five-year plan, identifying systems and equipment to upgrade or replace on the boat as well as skills to learn. We considered the potential financial and career impacts of taking a mid-career break and concluded that the benefits far outweighed the risks. We’d both demonstrated management skills and felt that, even at our age, we could be re-hired somewhere after two years away from the workplace. I even began telling my employer and coworkers about my plans a few years ago so they could understand my passion outside of work. With my tenure at the company and my relationship with my workplace, I felt it was best to share my plans because I believed those I worked with did not question my commitment to my work so wouldn’t hold it against me when involving me in exciting work.
 The author aboard her sailboat. |
In February 2019, we had the old standing rigging on our boat replaced and got more hands-on experience with the mechanics. In October 2019, we went on a training expedition on a larger sailboat and spent 10 days going from New Caledonia to Brisbane. Early in 2020, my husband and I were talking to employers about resigning from our jobs and the need to hire our replacements. We planned to move onto our boat in June.
I worried about risks that could derail my sailing plan both before and after it began. We were anxiously monitoring the real estate market and had our realtor assess what we needed to do to get our house ready for sale. I was thinking about the possibility that a family member’s health might cause me to delay the trip or that I might develop a lack of confidence around my preparedness. We were ready to monitor the weather and the political climate and alter our plan to go through the Panama Canal and instead head west to Polynesia.
As much as we had thought through the risks, we never planned for anything that would result in global shutdowns like this.
On March 2, my company announced that our Seattle office would encourage work from home due to COVID-19 transmission risk. Within two weeks, it was mandatory in all company offices worldwide. At first, we continued to pack up our house separating things for storage and for donation, but as we realized we were unable to take the boxes anywhere, we slowed down. We finally determined that, because of uncertainties and the need to decide no later than July, it was just better to shift the plan to next year. As much as we had thought through the risks, we never planned for anything that would result in global shutdowns like this.
Thinking about 2020, I imagine it was supposed to be a big year for many of us. Perhaps you were going to be sitting for your last exam needed for ACAS or FCAS. Maybe you were planning to move or start a new job. In the traditional actuarial behavior of considering risks, few if any of us were expecting the impacts of COVID-19. Some of you were likely well underway with plans you couldn’t put on hold such as expecting a baby or being part way through a home renovation. I’m sure, with your actuarial mindset, you were all contemplating potential risks to your plan. Perhaps you thought you might personally have an illness or other life disruption that got in the way of your plans or that the exam you were hoping to pass would be harder than you thought.
Reacting to a major change like COVID-19 when it feels totally unexpected is hard. At moments I find it so surreal that I wonder if I will soon wake from a dream. Here in my Seattle neighborhood, folks on social media are discussing whether it is appropriate to be mad at joggers who are not giving enough distance when passing others on park paths. I’m seeing neighbors reaching out for help getting groceries or offering help with errands to those who are worried about exposure to the virus. I can’t go out to eat, but I’m able to order home-delivery from some of the finest restaurants in town. I can still get the latest batches of beer from my favorite local breweries — some offering the ability to just drive up and pop the trunk for them to put the growlers back there with no contact. And I’m extremely lucky that I can still go out on my sailboat and continue to get her ready for the big trip. I’ve got an extra year to prepare; maybe that means I’ll learn celestial navigation before I go instead of during the trip.
We should find ways to accept the uncertainty around the impacts of COVID-19 and choose how we will adapt and manage it.
I’m writing this in May and believe that when this newsletter is published, we will have more information. But with that information, we will probably be processing even more unknown considerations we aren’t even thinking about today. We should find ways to accept the uncertainty around the impacts of COVID-19 and choose how we will adapt and manage. I find it very helpful to first recognize the uncomfortable feelings I’m having and what unknowns are impacting me the most. I recognized that I needed to create certainty around whether I would be able to leave on my sailing trip this summer and decided that, rather than wait until June to decide, I should just postpone it to next year. I felt better after I did that, but there are still many things I don’t know. I can’t know when restrictions will let up or when I can visit friends and family or how my workplace will operate in the fall. I can’t be sure that the COVID-19 restrictions will even clear up by next summer, but I can adjust my plan for now to have my sailing trip start next year.
Just as my plans were impacted, I know that cancellation of the Spring Exams was a huge impact to CAS candidates. I am glad that the CAS has already communicated their plans to adjust their exam offerings in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 to try to minimize the impact of the lost Spring 2020 sitting. This gives candidates a grasp on how to start adjusting plans even while still grappling with a lot of uncertainty and disruption. I have faith that we can all get through this and I hope that each of you has found positive ways to manage your personal situation. Best of luck on your Fall Exams!
