How to plan for 2021 after saying good riddance to 2020

Finally, it's time to end this miserable year.

If the 2020 memes are any indication, we've long been ready to start over. Perhaps, like the calendar meme posted by the actress Reese Witherspoon in August, you too have felt trapped in a loop that has only two settings: shock and despair.

The end of December typically brings fresh optimism, the conviction that by marking a milestone you can set new goals and imagine how your life may change for the better in the year to come. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has upended that ritual, like it has everything else.

While there's hope on the horizon in the form of widespread vaccination, we still face daunting unknowns, like how long it'll take to for most of the population to receive the vaccine, whether the new stimulus bill will keep people from sliding deeper into poverty, and a timeline for when we'll be able to hug our loved ones. There are looming threats to the stability we crave, including the possibility of a new variant of the coronavirus that may be more contagious, and a president who relentlessly seeks ways to overturn his election loss. Read more...