We're all going to have to be a lot more flexible

As the world gets older, we'll all have to retire later and finance it for longer. That's going to take a major rethink about an awful lot of things, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

I’ve been trying to get a new gas cylinder for my barbecue in Edinburgh. I can’t. I’ve been to every distributor in town – no luck. I’m sure I could get one if I ventured beyond the ring road but what with work, children, cooking and housework, I can’t devote any more time to Calor chasing. We are back to cooking inside for now (please don’t write in and suggest charcoal – I’m trying to make our life easier).

This is maddening. But also slightly thrilling. It isn’t just gas that is in short supply, it is barbecues too. Look around and mostly you will see “sold out” signs. Capitalism will provide, of course (they’ll be back in stock soon), but in the meantime think of it as a brilliant reminder of how adaptable a people-driven economy is. We aren’t mad for inside or abroad. So we have replaced them with a gas’n’garden combo at home and a bit of staycationing (which may also account for July’s 11% year-on-year rise in new car sales).

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.