Re: a letter from 2056
Dear (2026) me,
You are 30 as you read this.
I am 60 now, which still feels slightly unbelievable, so let’s not dwell on that for too long.
I will not spoil all the surprises. Some of them are genuinely wonderful, some are harder than you expect, and all of them shape you in ways you cannot see yet. But I do want to say thank you for a few things you did in 2026 that you probably do not yet realise the importance of.
You are living through a strange moment. Inflation has eased but still feels close. Interest rates have just been held at 3.75%, and the UK political scene is going through an interesting time.
Markets cannot quite decide whether they are optimistic or nervous. Almost every headline suggests that now is either the worst possible time or the only sensible time to think long term.
You feel that uncertainty more than you admit. I remember how I felt. And yet, you stay engaged. That matters.
I remember you at 30, telling yourself you were being sensible while quietly wondering whether you were overthinking everything. Talking to Pension Pulse felt like something older people did. Something you were not entirely sure you were ready for.
You half expected it to be complicated, or intimidating, or full of language that made you feel behind.
It was not.
They helped you understand what you already had, what genuinely mattered at this stage of life, and what could safely be left alone for now. It felt calm. Grounded. Almost boring, in the best possible way.
From where I am now, that first conversation changed far more than you realised. Life did not slow down after that.
In the years that followed, your career shifted. You earned more, then worried more, then slowly learned that those two things often arrive together. You took on a mortgage that felt uncomfortably large and lay awake one night wondering whether you had made a mistake.
You had not.
Family life changed too. I will not give you details, because you deserve to discover those for yourself, but responsibility suddenly felt very real. Money stopped being theoretical and became emotional.
Here is the part you cannot see yet.
Because you had already put foundations in place at 30, those years felt manageable rather than overwhelming. When you checked back in with Pension Pulse in your late thirties, it was not driven by panic. It was a sense check. A recalibration. They helped you adjust contributions, talk through competing priorities, and remember that life rarely moves in straight lines. That reassurance carried you through more than one difficult year.
Your forties arrived faster than you expect.
They are full years. Busy years. There are moments of chaos and moments of joy, often in the same week. There are years when pension statements are underwhelming, markets wobble, and ignoring it all would feel easier.
You do not ignore it. Sometimes you actively engage. Sometimes you simply do not do anything rash. Both turn out to matter, you always checked in with Pension Pulse.
Those quiet decisions pay for things you never labelled as financial choices at the time. Being able to step back slightly when family needs more of you. Saying yes to trips without running mental calculations in the background. Sleeping properly, which turns out to be far more valuable than you ever realised at 30.
By your fifties, something subtle changes.
You stop thinking about money all the time. Not because it no longer matters, but because it is doing what it is meant to do. Another conversation with Pension Pulse around then is not about tactics or returns. It is about confidence. About knowing that the life you are living makes sense financially as well as emotionally.
That is when pensions stop feeling like something you manage and start feeling like something that supports you.
So here I am in 2056. Life is good. Not perfect, but good in the ways that count. I wake up without that low level anxiety you carry now without realising it. I spend time with people I care about. I do not feel rushed by money. That calm did not arrive suddenly or by accident, you built it slowly, during years that felt ordinary at the time.
If there is one thing I want you to really hear in 2026, it is this.
You do not need to get everything right at 30. You just need to start, pay attention, and ask for help before urgency forces your hand. You did exactly that.
Thank you for looking after me, even when I still felt like a vague idea rather than a real person.
I will let you get back to 2026 now. There is a lot ahead of you. Most of it is worth it.
Best Wishes,
(2056) Me
