# What If Illness Disrupts Your Career?

An episode of [A Little Bit Richer](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1706157445), 9 Nov 2023, 16 min.

Audio: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2e9a850c-e6b9-48c2-afec-a8f8010f70f4/61b6e292-1c73-49e1-81ce-b075010b275f/06a0b9a1-84e0-44f3-afca-b0a6008a106e/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=aee4b1cb-b4f6-4283-99aa-b075010cd6b0

You can do all the career and financial planning you want, but sometimes life just gets in the way. Health problems can be particularly difficult if you need to take a lot of time off work. Luckily many of us won’t have that challenge but you never know what’s around the corner. In this episode Kia Commodore chats to Koren Byrne, a PR Manager at Legal & General. Koren was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She’s spent the last year adjusting to some big changes in her personal life, career and finances. She and Kia discuss the impact Koren’s diagnosis had on her best life. She describes what took her by surprise and suggests how you can plan for illness, just in case. You can play the podcast and find other useful content on Legal & General’s website: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/podcasts/a-little-bit-richer You can find out more on Critical Illness cover, Income Protection cover and Life insurance here: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/life-insurance/ Kia and her guests share their own personal thoughts and opinions in this podcast. These might be different from Legal & General’s take on things. They give financial guidance for a UK audience that’s relevant at the time of recording. It’s general best practice, not the kind of personalised advice you’d get from a financial adviser. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Kia: Hey, guys. It's Kia. We've been talking about how to hyper-
[0:03] Kia: focus your finances in order to get a little bit
[0:05] Kia: richer, but sometimes life just gets in the way. So
[0:07] Kia: this episode I'm talking about the impact physical and mental
[0:10] Kia: illnesses can have on our money. Joining me is Corrine
[0:13] Kia: Vern, a PR manager at Legal & General. Corrine joined Legal &
[0:18] Kia: General this year, but before this, she worked at our
[0:20] Kia: company who reviewed and rated financial products where her work
[0:23] Kia: involved promoting insurance protection. Corrine is 33 and one awful
[0:27] Kia: day last year, she suddenly went numb from the waist
[0:29] Kia: down. Following this, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and
[0:33] Kia: has spent the last year adjusting to some big changes
[0:35] Kia: in terms of her personal life, work life, and finances.
[0:38] Kia: Corinne's done an excellent job adapting to all of this,
[0:41] Kia: and she's joining me today to talk through her story,
[0:43] Kia: how this has impacted her life, and what she'd do
[0:45] Kia: differently if she could go back. So Corinne, to kick
[0:47] Kia: things off, please could you talk me through the story
[0:50] Kia: of your diagnosis?
[0:51] Corrine Vern: Yeah, I can. One day I was having brunch with
[0:55] Corrine Vern: the girls, time of my life, and the next day,
[0:59] Corrine Vern: literally overnight, I woke up and I was completely numb
[1:02] Corrine Vern: from the waist down-
[1:03] Kia: Oh, wow.
[1:03] Corrine Vern: ... both legs. It's like straightaway was like, " That's not
[1:08] Corrine Vern: quite normal," and it was like pins and needles. My
[1:12] Corrine Vern: feet felt dead. So as soon as I could, I
[1:16] Corrine Vern: got hold of my GP and I was really, really
[1:19] Corrine Vern: lucky that I had access to private healthcare through work.
[1:24] Corrine Vern: I was really lucky I got diagnosed very, very quickly.
[1:28] Corrine Vern: It was a long, hard process. You find out what's
[1:31] Corrine Vern: wrong and it feels like a bit of a journey
[1:34] Corrine Vern: and you don't really know what's going on. And then
[1:38] Corrine Vern: you get your diagnosis and you sit in the office
[1:40] Corrine Vern: and they go, " It's multiple sclerosis." He looked at me
[1:43] Corrine Vern: really odd because I was like, " Okay, fine," because I was expecting it.
[1:47] Kia: Okay.
[1:47] Corrine Vern: And then I got in the car and my mum
[1:49] Corrine Vern: was there luckily and she was like, "Are you okay?" I was like, "No."
[1:54] Kia: No, no. I mean...
[1:55] Corrine Vern: No, I'm not. Because that's where the journey really starts
[2:00] Corrine Vern: and that's when the reality of the situation because you're
[2:04] Corrine Vern: still kind of hoping that maybe I'm being dramatic. So
[2:06] Corrine Vern: that was kind of the start of all the changes
[2:10] Corrine Vern: was when I got that diagnosis and I realized quite
[2:13] Corrine Vern: quickly how much of an effect, not just feeling physically
[2:16] Corrine Vern: unwell, but the mental strain of having a diagnosis of
[2:21] Corrine Vern: an incurable disease. Like I've been sick, but I've never
[2:26] Corrine Vern: been sick to be told that you're not going to
[2:29] Corrine Vern: get better from, like this is with you for life.
[2:32] Corrine Vern: So it was dealing with the implications of that is
[2:35] Corrine Vern: kind of what came next and was the fun part,
[2:39] Corrine Vern: so to speak. The challenging part, challenging.
[2:41] Kia: The challenging part. So I can imagine that was a
[2:44] Kia: massive worry that you had to undertake. But how did
[2:48] Kia: this impact you financially? Were there changes that you had
[2:50] Kia: to make to your finances?
[2:52] Corrine Vern: Yeah. So it's one of those ones like you deal
[2:56] Corrine Vern: with the health. At this point, I'm still very much
[2:58] Corrine Vern: going through the motions of being numb from the waist
[3:01] Corrine Vern: down. It lasted about sort of I think in total
[3:04] Corrine Vern: I had the numbness and the pain like for six
[3:07] Corrine Vern: months, but it was that impact then that it had
[3:11] Corrine Vern: on work. So I'd worked really hard throughout my 20s
[3:16] Corrine Vern: to get to the point that I was in my career.
[3:18] Corrine Vern: I'd gone from like an internship earning like no money,
[3:22] Corrine Vern: all the way through to earning, like I was comfortable.
[3:24] Corrine Vern: I had a comfortable salary. I was starting to look
[3:26] Corrine Vern: at whether or not I wanted to buy a property,
[3:29] Corrine Vern: like start putting savings away and all of that. I
[3:32] Corrine Vern: just felt like I'd hit a brick wall and that
[3:35] Corrine Vern: whole perspective of just like I always felt like I
[3:38] Corrine Vern: was soaring and then, all of a sudden, I was like-
[3:42] Kia: Oh, no, I can imagine.
[3:42] Corrine Vern: ... coming back down to earth with like a big
[3:45] Corrine Vern: bang, right? And financially, I had some savings, but I
[3:52] Corrine Vern: was like living my best life so I was enjoying
[3:54] Corrine Vern: the disposable income that I had. So I had some
[3:57] Corrine Vern: money saved. I had like the bog standard three months
[4:00] Corrine Vern: of salary, like monthly salary saved up. But I very
[4:04] Corrine Vern: quickly realized I'm not well. I don't know how long
[4:08] Corrine Vern: I'm going to be unwell for. I don't know what
[4:10] Corrine Vern: recovery looks like. I'm very fortunate that I did get
[4:14] Corrine Vern: the function back in my lower body and I went
[4:17] Corrine Vern: into remission quite well, but I could have had really
[4:19] Corrine Vern: lasting effects and disability and at some points I was
[4:22] Corrine Vern: walking with a stick. That could have been something that
[4:24] Corrine Vern: I carried on and continued to do. So when it
[4:28] Corrine Vern: came to work, I just didn't know what that looked
[4:31] Corrine Vern: like, whether I needed to take time off. I also
[4:35] Corrine Vern: had to have a real sit- down with myself and
[4:38] Corrine Vern: can I continue to do the job that I'm doing?
[4:40] Corrine Vern: Because one of the things that you get with multiple
[4:42] Corrine Vern: sclerosis is fatigue, which comes with it brain fog, and
[4:47] Corrine Vern: it just meant that I was really suffering at work.
[4:50] Corrine Vern: I couldn't find words in meetings and things like that.
[4:53] Corrine Vern: So where I'd gone from, well, I mean I thought
[4:56] Corrine Vern: I was all right in my job before and, all of
[4:58] Corrine Vern: a sudden, I wasn't able to do the things that
[5:00] Corrine Vern: I could do before. The disease was new to me
[5:02] Corrine Vern: so I didn't know whether this was a permanent feature
[5:05] Corrine Vern: or whether that was just how I was going to
[5:07] Corrine Vern: be functioning moving forward. Luckily, it sort of eased and
[5:11] Corrine Vern: the brain fog and I still get fatigue, but it
[5:14] Corrine Vern: comes in waves. So I was worried that I wouldn't
[5:18] Corrine Vern: have an income from work, and I was worried that
[5:22] Corrine Vern: if I went on sick, if it was long- term,
[5:25] Corrine Vern: whether I could live off statutory sick pay or how
[5:27] Corrine Vern: far my sick pay would stretch from work. But I
[5:30] Corrine Vern: was really lucky at the time that I worked for
[5:32] Corrine Vern: a really, really good company that made some adjustments for
[5:35] Corrine Vern: me that helped me work and keep the salary. And
[5:42] Corrine Vern: I was also extremely lucky with work that as part
[5:45] Corrine Vern: of the workplace benefits, I had a critical illness cover,
[5:49] Corrine Vern: which is a type of insurance against things like cancer
[5:53] Corrine Vern: and multiple sclerosis is one of the critical illnesses that
[5:56] Corrine Vern: is covered. So I got a lump payment from them.
[6:01] Kia: That's really good. Really useful, I'm sure.
[6:02] Corrine Vern: Yeah, and I think what that did was that kind
[6:05] Corrine Vern: of financial worry and that fear of the unknown of
[6:08] Corrine Vern: what that future looked like, it gave me a really
[6:12] Corrine Vern: good buffer so that I could continue to work and
[6:19] Corrine Vern: continue to forge that career path once I felt better.
[6:22] Corrine Vern: But in an ideal situation because I had to work
[6:27] Corrine Vern: because I didn't have anything else other than that workplace
[6:30] Corrine Vern: benefit, I didn't have income protection so that I could
[6:34] Corrine Vern: have something where I could take six months off work
[6:37] Corrine Vern: and realistically that's what I should have done, because I
[6:40] Corrine Vern: had the physical side of things and then the mental
[6:43] Corrine Vern: health side of things that came with the diagnosis, not
[6:46] Corrine Vern: just the fatigue, but also I was not in a
[6:50] Corrine Vern: great place mentally because my whole world had just been
[6:53] Corrine Vern: turned upside down. So I had some things in place.
[6:56] Corrine Vern: I had an extremely good employer that sort of really
[6:58] Corrine Vern: helped, and the critical illness really helped. But realistically, I
[7:03] Corrine Vern: wish I'd had a bit more there to sort of
[7:04] Corrine Vern: help and support me, take the time that I needed
[7:07] Corrine Vern: to sort of recover and work out what my next
[7:11] Corrine Vern: steps were going to be as well.
[7:13] Kia: So Corinne, I just want to ask you, what were
[7:15] Kia: you doing for work before you had your diagnosis, and how
[7:19] Kia: was that impacted after you received your diagnosis?
[7:22] Corrine Vern: So I just started working in financial services and I'd been
[7:26] Corrine Vern: with the company for four years- ish. And I was
[7:31] Corrine Vern: like getting to that point where I was starting to
[7:33] Corrine Vern: look at what the next opportunities were going to be.
[7:36] Corrine Vern: I was really, really career- minded and focused on sort
[7:39] Corrine Vern: of climbing that career ladder as well. And then you
[7:42] Corrine Vern: get hit with that diagnosis and, all of a sudden,
[7:45] Corrine Vern: that five- year plan is like ripped up. At some
[7:48] Corrine Vern: points I thought that I'd have to leave my job
[7:51] Corrine Vern: completely, change career, do something part- time, do something easier
[7:56] Corrine Vern: just so that I could focus on my health, physical
[8:00] Corrine Vern: and mental health. And when I went to work and
[8:05] Corrine Vern: they were really supportive and I was able to access
[8:09] Corrine Vern: the critical illness cover and sort of have that money
[8:11] Corrine Vern: and that backing, it actually gave me the confidence to
[8:15] Corrine Vern: keep going full steam ahead. So let's stick to the five-
[8:18] Corrine Vern: year plan that I had for my career. I felt
[8:20] Corrine Vern: more financially secure because I thought if it all goes
[8:23] Corrine Vern: wrong when I do need to quit or I do
[8:25] Corrine Vern: need to go or I need to take a job
[8:28] Corrine Vern: that's less money, I kind of knew that I had
[8:30] Corrine Vern: a bit of like a financial buffer there that I
[8:32] Corrine Vern: wouldn't have had without the critical illness. And I started
[8:35] Corrine Vern: looking for jobs and I think this is where my
[8:37] Corrine Vern: outlook changed a little bit. I'd sort of chased a
[8:40] Corrine Vern: salary and sort of gravitas and things like that with
[8:43] Corrine Vern: the jobs that I'd gone for before, quite normal things.
[8:46] Corrine Vern: But I wanted something that served with a bit more
[8:48] Corrine Vern: purpose and that resonated with me. That's where I saw
[8:51] Corrine Vern: the job with Legal & General PR manager. I was like,
[8:54] Corrine Vern: tick, that's what I do. It's in financial services, tick.
[8:58] Corrine Vern: And then the part that I really liked was it
[9:00] Corrine Vern: was specifically working with protection insurance. And I felt so
[9:04] Corrine Vern: passionately through my experience and being able to access the
[9:11] Corrine Vern: cover that I had and also passionate about the fact
[9:13] Corrine Vern: that I could have had way more cover in place.
[9:14] Corrine Vern: I could have provided myself so much more support had
[9:18] Corrine Vern: I understood that those products were for me at that
[9:21] Corrine Vern: age in my 20s. It wasn't just life insurance and
[9:24] Corrine Vern: it's not just about like the worst, worst thing happening,
[9:26] Corrine Vern: but also supporting your lifestyle as you go along. The
[9:29] Corrine Vern: role really resonated with me and I was like, I
[9:31] Corrine Vern: absolutely want to do something because I feel like I've
[9:33] Corrine Vern: got a bit of a purpose. I'm on a bit
[9:35] Corrine Vern: of a soapbox with this.
[9:36] Kia: Well, I think that's amazing. I think, like you said, it's
[9:38] Kia: something that young people should know about. It isn't covered
[9:41] Kia: very often. So off the back of that then, what
[9:44] Kia: took you by surprise? What's the thing that you don't
[9:47] Kia: realize until you're in this type of situation?
[9:49] Corrine Vern: I never thought that it would happen to me. And it
[9:52] Corrine Vern: sounds silly because my mom's got MS, but it's not
[9:54] Corrine Vern: hereditary. So really, I didn't think it was going to happen to
[9:56] Corrine Vern: me, like-
[9:58] Kia: Yeah, of course.
[9:58] Corrine Vern: ... and you think that sickness and these kinds of
[10:02] Corrine Vern: things are for people that are like older than you,
[10:04] Corrine Vern: right? I was building my life. I wasn't expecting it
[10:08] Corrine Vern: to be shattered overnight. I'd gone through my 20s thinking
[10:11] Corrine Vern: I was invincible, having a great time with all my
[10:13] Corrine Vern: friends, socializing, climbing the career ladder, doing everything that you're
[10:17] Corrine Vern: meant to do during those years. And I didn't think
[10:20] Corrine Vern: that I would get to like 30, 31 and that would
[10:23] Corrine Vern: be, potentially could be the end of that kind of
[10:26] Corrine Vern: climb. And I hadn't and I don't know many people
[10:30] Corrine Vern: that do, especially when I talk to my friends. They
[10:33] Corrine Vern: don't think about what they would do if they got
[10:37] Corrine Vern: unwell or they weren't well enough to work. And it's
[10:41] Corrine Vern: not a comfortable thing to think about, the unexpected and
[10:45] Corrine Vern: planning for the worst. But me, personally, I wish I
[10:48] Corrine Vern: had given that more thought. I was lucky, but if
[10:52] Corrine Vern: it had happened at any other point, or I was working
[10:54] Corrine Vern: for a different employer, the outcome could have been really,
[10:58] Corrine Vern: really different for me and I could have been really,
[10:59] Corrine Vern: really stuck. And having three months' salary saved up is
[11:04] Corrine Vern: great, but it doesn't stretch very far when you've got
[11:06] Corrine Vern: bills and rent and also just like life to pay
[11:11] Corrine Vern: for as well.
[11:12] Kia: That's the thing. I think there's so many things to
[11:14] Kia: consider, like you've mentioned, that it's almost hard, as you
[11:18] Kia: said, to see yourself in that situation.
[11:20] Corrine Vern: Yeah, you can't. Until you're in it, you can't. But
[11:23] Corrine Vern: I think that's the challenge you have to do with
[11:25] Corrine Vern: yourself, right? I think you do have to take that
[11:28] Corrine Vern: time to take stock and just say, " Okay, carpet gets
[11:33] Corrine Vern: pulled out from underneath me. What is my plan? What
[11:36] Corrine Vern: do I have in place to protect the lifestyle that
[11:39] Corrine Vern: I have today?" And that accommodates and accounts for everything,
[11:42] Corrine Vern: not just financially, but like your mental health, your physical
[11:45] Corrine Vern: health. Like what do you have in place and what
[11:47] Corrine Vern: support systems do you have in place today that can support
[11:51] Corrine Vern: you if the worst happens? So start building some good
[11:54] Corrine Vern: habits with like putting some money away and take stock
[11:58] Corrine Vern: of that. Don't just save the three months' salary and
[12:00] Corrine Vern: leave it-
[12:01] Kia: Yes.
[12:01] Corrine Vern: ... because, as well, I'd based it on three months'
[12:04] Corrine Vern: salary before I'd had like pay rises and things like
[12:06] Corrine Vern: that. So my lifestyle had moved on, but my savings
[12:09] Corrine Vern: were sort of stuck. So I was like, " That's done. I've got
[12:12] Corrine Vern: this little pocket. I can carry on." And I never
[12:14] Corrine Vern: took stock, and I never did things to continue to
[12:17] Corrine Vern: protect the life and the lifestyle that I was building. And
[12:20] Corrine Vern: you do it in the hope that you'll never have
[12:22] Corrine Vern: to use it. But I think if you can get
[12:25] Corrine Vern: these really good habits to think in those terms and
[12:27] Corrine Vern: while things are up, don't wait until like I did
[12:32] Corrine Vern: where you are in that crisis point, and then start
[12:35] Corrine Vern: thinking about these things because it is a little bit too late.
[12:39] Corrine Vern: So do it while things are good, and just like
[12:41] Corrine Vern: explore what products could help you protect your income and
[12:44] Corrine Vern: protect your lifestyle as well.
[12:46] Kia: So for you, you're in your early 30s and when
[12:50] Kia: you're young, it's really hard, like you said, to see
[12:52] Kia: yourself in any situation and to think that that could
[12:55] Kia: happen to you. So how would you like to see
[12:57] Kia: people's mindsets change here? Because I know your current line
[13:00] Kia: of work lines up with this.
[13:01] Corrine Vern: Most people are really, really comfortable with insuring your things.
[13:06] Corrine Vern: Like you get a phone, you have insurance. Obviously legal
[13:10] Corrine Vern: requirement to have insurance. We are so comfortable with insuring
[13:15] Corrine Vern: things, it's second nature. But for some reason when it
[13:18] Corrine Vern: comes to ourselves, our body, our health, it's boring and
[13:23] Corrine Vern: we don't want to talk about it. I don't know
[13:25] Corrine Vern: whether or not, especially when you talk about like life
[13:26] Corrine Vern: insurance, obviously that's like the very worst and you don't
[13:29] Corrine Vern: want to talk about that because it feels morbid. But
[13:32] Corrine Vern: it's like what we were saying earlier about protecting the
[13:35] Corrine Vern: lifestyle that you're building and the life that you're building
[13:37] Corrine Vern: out for yourself. So I'd like to see that change.
[13:39] Corrine Vern: I'd like to see more conversation about how we protect
[13:42] Corrine Vern: ourselves and our lives against the unexpected happening. And a
[13:46] Corrine Vern: lot of these products when you're younger are a bit
[13:50] Corrine Vern: cheaper as well because sort of the risks are lower.
[13:53] Corrine Vern: I mean, there'll always be like one person like me
[13:55] Corrine Vern: that's like, " It happened to me, pick me." But no,
[13:59] Corrine Vern: I just really want that mindset to change, that it's
[14:03] Corrine Vern: not too expensive, it's not too difficult to have these
[14:05] Corrine Vern: conversations, and we are worth protecting and our lives are
[14:09] Corrine Vern: worth protecting.
[14:11] Kia: Like you said, that is very key. We insure our
[14:13] Kia: products, but ourselves, it's very important so I think that's
[14:16] Kia: a great point. But I want to run off this
[14:19] Kia: episode, though, the way that I always do. So I'm
[14:21] Kia: going to ask you, what are three tips that you'd give
[14:24] Kia: to our listeners to help them get a little bit richer?
[14:27] Corrine Vern: I think start habits, good financial habits early, even when
[14:32] Corrine Vern: you're not earning a huge amount, start making savings, putting
[14:35] Corrine Vern: things away, and planning for the unexpected. Not just like
[14:39] Corrine Vern: rainy day funds, but actually worst case scenario planning as
[14:42] Corrine Vern: well. And also look into insuring yourself in keeping your
[14:48] Corrine Vern: lifestyle going and look into things like income protection and
[14:52] Corrine Vern: critical illness cover. And I was really lucky that I
[14:55] Corrine Vern: had some workplace benefits, but check, really do look. It's
[14:59] Corrine Vern: great to have pizzas every Friday, it's great to finish
[15:02] Corrine Vern: at four o'clock every Friday, but actually look at the
[15:06] Corrine Vern: more boring benefits. Have a look at your pension, have
[15:08] Corrine Vern: a look at sort of what life insurance is involved
[15:11] Corrine Vern: and also if there are any other benefits that come
[15:13] Corrine Vern: with that. Because a lot of the time you'll have
[15:15] Corrine Vern: access to things like counseling, again, like private diagnostics and
[15:20] Corrine Vern: private GPs and things. Have a look at like that
[15:23] Corrine Vern: boring paperwork pack that you get when you start a
[15:25] Corrine Vern: new job and you're really excited and just take stock of
[15:28] Corrine Vern: what you've got in place and what might be missing
[15:31] Corrine Vern: from that as well. So you're not just relying on
[15:33] Corrine Vern: the workplace benefits, but what can you do and what
[15:35] Corrine Vern: products can you access on a personal level as well.
[15:37] Corrine Vern: So just be mindful of all of your financial products,
[15:41] Corrine Vern: I think, is key from early on, so you build
[15:45] Corrine Vern: those habits.
[15:46] Kia: Early on, that habit. That's a key point. Corinne, thank you so much for sharing
[15:49] Kia: your story. It's been very Insightful when you've shared some amazing
[15:51] Kia: tips so thank you so much. Whether you are in
[15:54] Kia: a similar position to Corinne or not, I hope that
[15:56] Kia: this episode resonated with you. If it did, then please
[16:00] Kia: be sure to follow the podcast, leave us a review
[16:03] Kia: and tell others who you think would be interested. Next
[16:06] Kia: week, I'll be looking at student loans, the different types,
[16:09] Kia: how they can affect your finances and if you should
[16:12] Kia: repay them. See you then.

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