Kia: Hey, Kia, here. Some legal and general research has highlighted
Kia: that an estimated 6. 5 million people are reaching key
Kia: life events like getting married, becoming parents, or buying a
Kia: home later in life. By delaying key life milestones, people
Kia: are putting off important money decisions which might impact their longer-
Kia: term financial wellbeing. Welcome to another episode of a Little
Kia: Bit Richer, brought to you by my friends at Legal &
Kia: General. Here to talk about how younger generations are redefining
Kia: key life milestones and the impact this has is a
Kia: friend of the show, Koren Byrne, from Legal & General, who
Kia: talks about the path she's taking as an independent 30
Kia: something woman. Thank you for joining us, Koren.
Koren Byrne: Thank you for having me.
Kia: I'm really excited because I need to get into nitty
Kia: gritty of what this means. So before I get too
Kia: into it, can you talk us through these issues and
Kia: the social changes that we are seeing in society now?
Koren Byrne: Yeah, of course. So when I started working in financial
Koren Byrne: services, it must have been about six years, and it wasn't until I
Koren Byrne: got into the industry and I was hearing about these
Koren Byrne: products, especially around protection insurance, income protection, life insurance, critical
Koren Byrne: illness, and I was like, these seem really good products
Koren Byrne: to have and I had that light bulb moment. I
Koren Byrne: was like oh, they actually could be for me. But
Koren Byrne: the way that they're spoken about and how they're marketed
Koren Byrne: and positioned, it's the when you get married, you might
Koren Byrne: want to look at taking out a life insurance policy.
Koren Byrne: When you buy a home, you might want to look
Koren Byrne: at getting a life insurance policy or some income protection
Koren Byrne: and things like that. The average age for people buying
Koren Byrne: their first home is 34, which is the highest that
Koren Byrne: it's been in decades. And marriage, the average age is
Koren Byrne: 32, which again is gradually increased from 2000 as well.
Koren Byrne: So there are around 4. 1 million households that would
Koren Byrne: count as a single income, no kids, SINC, or a
Koren Byrne: dual income, no kids. So we are definitely on the rise.
Kia: Those numbers that you put there are not the numbers
Kia: I think people would jump to when you think to
Kia: an average first time buyer. 34, that's a lot older
Kia: than what you think it's going to be. So I'm
Kia: in my mid 20s, I have friends who are doing
Kia: and achieving all these things and I'm like oh my
Kia: gosh, I'm way behind. When you look at the numbers,
Kia: you're actually not, and it is increasing. It's probably going to
Kia: get even higher when I get to that point. But
Kia: you mentioned the term milestones there.
Koren Byrne: Yeah.
Kia: So what do you actually mean when you say milestones?
Koren Byrne: So when I am talking about a milestone, I'm talking
Koren Byrne: about those more traditional life key milestones. If you look
Koren Byrne: to your parents, your grandparents, school, uni maybe, if that's
Koren Byrne: for you, work and then you get married, you buy
Koren Byrne: a home, you have children, and then you retire. And
Koren Byrne: so especially looking at that mid- life point, which is
Koren Byrne: probably what we're discussing most, which is buying a home,
Koren Byrne: getting married, having children, in no particular order, of course,
Koren Byrne: people are either choosing to not do those things for
Koren Byrne: a variety of reason or that they're just doing them
Koren Byrne: later in life. None of my close friends in a
Koren Byrne: similar age have children, so we're redefining what family looks
Koren Byrne: like. And so it's not necessarily a bad thing at
Koren Byrne: all. I think it's great because we're breaking the mold
Koren Byrne: and carving our own paths, focusing on careers and things
Koren Byrne: like that. But what could be happening is that if
Koren Byrne: we're delaying some of these key milestones or not reaching
Koren Byrne: them at all, a lot of these key milestones, are
Koren Byrne: what trigger conversations about protection insurance, if you're looking at
Koren Byrne: mortgages, investments, savings, your pension as well. So if we're
Koren Byrne: not hitting these milestones or we are delaying them, could
Koren Byrne: this be delaying our financial engagement as well and could
Koren Byrne: we be doing ourselves a little bit of a disservice
Koren Byrne: in not engaging with our finances? It's really common to
Koren Byrne: put something off until you get to a certain point.
Koren Byrne: But if we're not buying a home until we're 34,
Koren Byrne: getting married until we're 32, does that mean we shouldn't
Koren Byrne: look at income protection, look at critical illness, think about
Koren Byrne: what we're doing with our pension? And I just think
Koren Byrne: it's really interesting to see how those family units are
Koren Byrne: changing and what impact that might be having on financial
Koren Byrne: engagement as well. And I do call myself a family
Koren Byrne: even though I'm single, I have a cat.
Kia: It's your family, I mean.
Koren Byrne: That's my family. It's me and my cat. We are family.
Kia: I love the way that you described just different family units
Kia: and I think it takes off the pressure from people
Kia: who may think, " Okay, I'm behind in life. I'm not
Kia: doing well. I'm not married or I'm not in a couple,"
Kia: because we have different priorities from my parents or grandparents,
Kia: and that does impact what that looks like for us.
Kia: I know there's an issue here, so what exactly is
Kia: the issue?
Koren Byrne: Yeah, so what's happening is we are missing out on
Koren Byrne: important conversations about certain financial products because as a group
Koren Byrne: we're doing quite well, but you're also really vulnerable if
Koren Byrne: you haven't had a conversation with someone about how to
Koren Byrne: protect your income or saving for retirement. We're so focused
Koren Byrne: on that enjoyment and that financial engagement piece is really
Koren Byrne: important I think for this group.
Kia: Yeah, I think it is just understanding how these products
Kia: work so you can make an informed decision as to when
Kia: best to maybe implement them in your life. So absolutely, 100%,
Kia: I'm behind you on that. I've had many conversations with
Kia: friends, right, and a lot of them have this idea
Kia: that, you know what? Life's my enjoyment. I'm going to
Kia: live for today and I worry about tomorrow if and
Kia: when I get there. If I don't. I've had a good today. So I
Kia: want to ask you, what are your thoughts on that idea?
Koren Byrne: I would probably class myself as one of those people.
Koren Byrne: No, I think it's a really interesting point, especially with
Koren Byrne: how things are at the moment, the cost of living
Koren Byrne: and stuff like that. I think, yes, it's one thing
Koren Byrne: to be enjoying and doing the day- to- day by
Koren Byrne: choice, but I think it's also really important that actually
Koren Byrne: managing your day- to- day while also thinking about the
Koren Byrne: future and being able to do things for your future
Koren Byrne: is quite a privilege at the moment. But I think
Koren Byrne: when you are in a position where you can do
Koren Byrne: something towards future self that you'll look back and give
Koren Byrne: yourself a pat on the back for when it comes
Koren Byrne: to your finances, do it. If you can, do it.
Koren Byrne: Because you will thank yourself in the future.
Kia: You will.
Koren Byrne: While you can think about maybe putting a little bit
Koren Byrne: more away, not just that rainy day fund because I
Koren Byrne: think some of the research that we've done showed that
Koren Byrne: especially with the SINCs and the DINCs, they're much more confident with their
Koren Byrne: money. But that overconfidence can come at a price because
Koren Byrne: they put money away in a rainy day fund, but
Koren Byrne: they're not thinking about pensions or savings. Because they haven't
Koren Byrne: got those maybe natural triggers where they might be speaking
Koren Byrne: to mortgage advisors where someone would just say, " Oh, have
Koren Byrne: you thought about life insurance and what are you going to
Koren Byrne: do? How are you going to protect your income if you
Koren Byrne: get ill and stuff?" So I think it's a balancing
Koren Byrne: act, but definitely don't do what I have been guilty
Koren Byrne: of. Don't bury your head in the sand. Do take
Koren Byrne: a breath-
Kia: Take a breath. I'm outside. There's a lot going on up here.
Koren Byrne: ... and just think, " Oh, can I put a little
Koren Byrne: bit more aside? Have I looked at what my pension's
Koren Byrne: doing recently? What am I savings saying? Yep, that instant
Koren Byrne: account is fine, but maybe I can lock some money
Koren Byrne: away and something for a fixed term and things like
Koren Byrne: that." It's probably not as fun as brunch, but future
Koren Byrne: you, when you're having brunch in your 80s will definitely
Koren Byrne: thank you.
Kia: Absolutely. I don't plan on retiring with no money. I
Kia: plan on chilling on a beach and having a great
Kia: retirement. I'm not thinking about where the next money's coming from
Kia: because I've already done that in my younger years.
Koren Byrne: Absolutely.
Kia: You spoke about it earlier and that's life insurance. And
Kia: I think often there's certain words, life insurance is one
Kia: of them. Retirement's another one, pension's another one where people
Kia: automatically think about being old and they also think about
Kia: dependents. So if someone or a couple isn't planning on
Kia: having kids, is life insurance still something that they should
Kia: consider taking out and looking at?
Koren Byrne: Yeah, short answer is yes. The longer answer is having
Koren Byrne: children, life changing in a number of ways and also
Koren Byrne: it gets you thinking about how do I protect this
Koren Byrne: person that is solely reliant on me? And so it's
Koren Byrne: a natural trigger and if you look at any adverts,
Koren Byrne: it's very easy to look at that and think, " Oh,
Koren Byrne: it's not for me to worry about because I don't
Koren Byrne: have children, I don't need life insurance." But you might
Koren Byrne: because if you don't have any dependents, it doesn't mean
Koren Byrne: that you don't have what we'd call beneficiaries. So people
Koren Byrne: who you would like to leave some money for as
Koren Byrne: much as my brother annoys me, it might be quite nice.
Kia: Well, I mean that's the two of us in the room.
Koren Byrne: Yeah, no, we're still really close and if anything should
Koren Byrne: happen to me, I'm sure he would be really pleased
Koren Byrne: if it was a beneficiary of some sort from a
Koren Byrne: life insurance policy for me so I could make sure
Koren Byrne: that he was looked after. Same for my mum. Also,
Koren Byrne: getting a life insurance policy, oftentimes when you're younger, it's
Koren Byrne: cheaper. So life insurance can absolutely be for you if
Koren Byrne: you don't have children, but it might not be. It's
Koren Byrne: worth exploring. So I've already touched on income protection before,
Koren Byrne: which for someone in my position, if I was to
Koren Byrne: be off ill for a significant period of time or
Koren Byrne: injured, I'm the only person that pays my rent. Daisy
Koren Byrne: can try, but we've tried to get her Instagram famous-
Kia: We've tried, and she's not doing it.
Koren Byrne: ... and she's too much of a diva for that.
Koren Byrne: So she's never going to be an influencer and pay
Koren Byrne: the bills. I've asked, she's not put a penny of
Koren Byrne: rent up yet.
Kia: No, she put her paws up, she said no.
Koren Byrne: Absolutely. So it would give me that sense of financial
Koren Byrne: security if I can't work, and it would just give
Koren Byrne: me a bit of a buffer. And also a critical
Koren Byrne: illness policy. If you do end up with a critical
Koren Byrne: illness, it gives you a lump sum and it doesn't
Koren Byrne: have to go towards your mortgage, it can go to
Koren Byrne: the cost of anything for you. But again, it's a
Koren Byrne: buffer for you and it's how you look after yourself.
Koren Byrne: So, yes, life insurance, protecttion insurance could absolutely be for
Koren Byrne: you. Don't write it off just because you don't have children.
Kia: That's amazing. I think the general theme is just have
Kia: it on your mind and do the research. So, if
Kia: we come back to the topic of renting then, if
Kia: someone's renting in a couple, is it less important for
Kia: them to have protection if they have a partner who
Kia: they know can cover the bills and the rent? If
Kia: something were to happen, is it not a priority to them because
Kia: they know they can fall back on someone?
Koren Byrne: I think this is a really interesting one because obviously
Koren Byrne: if you are both covering bills, rent, you've got two
Koren Byrne: streams of income coming into that home. And yes, you
Koren Byrne: might be fine if you've got a planned break in
Koren Byrne: work or a planned drop in salary for one or
Koren Byrne: both of you because together you can calculate it and
Koren Byrne: you can plan for it. If something comes up that
Koren Byrne: you weren't planning for and if the unexpected does happen, it's
Koren Byrne: a very, very different scenario. It just gives you security.
Koren Byrne: If you were to fall ill, and from my own
Koren Byrne: experience with my health when I was diagnosed with MS
Koren Byrne: a few years ago, it's not just one appointment. You
Koren Byrne: get your diagnosis and you trot off and go, " Okay."
Koren Byrne: You are in and out of hospital. Depending on where
Koren Byrne: you're at with your health, you might not be able
Koren Byrne: to drive yourself to appointments. So, yes, you might be
Koren Byrne: relying on someone's income and they might still be working,
Koren Byrne: but they also might need to take time off to
Koren Byrne: care for you too. And then you end up in
Koren Byrne: a dynamic where you've got the stress of being unwell
Koren Byrne: and then you've got the financial strain and a rainy
Koren Byrne: day fund and with as much planning as you want, if something
Koren Byrne: unexpected happens, those costs drain really, really quickly. So it's
Koren Byrne: just one stress that you can take off someone and
Koren Byrne: take that burden of keeping up with the bills. But
Koren Byrne: unexpected things happen all the time and they-
Kia: All the time.
Koren Byrne: ... don't all have to be completely catastrophic to make a
Koren Byrne: real impact on your financial status as well.
Kia: Yeah, it's true.
Koren Byrne: It's just that freedom of choice then. If your situation
Koren Byrne: changes, you might have stopped work, but your partner might
Koren Byrne: want to go part- time and having something to fall
Koren Byrne: back on, like critical illness just means you get that
Koren Byrne: sum of money, which maybe makes those choices a little bit
Koren Byrne: easier to make and you just take a lot of
Koren Byrne: stress off yourself. So I think it's definitely worth looking into.
Kia: Very much so important. Another thing that's important though is
Kia: pension savings. Why is it important to save as early
Kia: as possible when retirement can feel like a lifetime away?
Koren Byrne: So when you have a pension, it's an investment. So
Koren Byrne: the earlier you start, the more chance you have of
Koren Byrne: that investment growing. So ultimately, do it early. Start early,
Koren Byrne: don't put it off. Remember that this life that you're
Koren Byrne: creating now, you probably want to keep up, if not
Koren Byrne: maybe a little bit better.
Kia: That would be nice.
Koren Byrne: A few more holidays once you remove the work element, so start early and
Koren Byrne: just watch that build.
Kia: Amazing. I think, yes, start early is the thing that
Kia: we want everyone to remember when it comes to all your
Kia: protections, thinking about your future, have that on your mind and start early.
Kia: Before we round off then I want to ask you,
Kia: what are your three top tips that you think our
Kia: listeners should consider when it comes to planning for their
Kia: future and just getting their finance in check?
Koren Byrne: I think the first one is that it's all well
Koren Byrne: and good putting off or breaking the mold and not
Koren Byrne: going down traditional milestones, that's absolutely fine, but delaying key
Koren Byrne: life milestones shouldn't delay you engaging with your finances. And
Koren Byrne: I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't say
Koren Byrne: something about protection insurance either. Just because you're not having
Koren Byrne: children and you're not getting married, doesn't mean that you
Koren Byrne: shouldn't have any protection insurance in place. I am my
Koren Byrne: sole dependent and if I can't work or something unexpected
Koren Byrne: happens to me, there are still bills that need to
Koren Byrne: be paid and I am the one that's responsible for
Koren Byrne: them. So critical illness, income protection, life insurance, explore them,
Koren Byrne: read up on them, have conversations about them and just
Koren Byrne: see if they're right for you. And you can also
Koren Byrne: have access to things like wellbeing benefits, private diagnostics, counseling,
Koren Byrne: private GPs, and these are the services that you can
Koren Byrne: access right now, which again saves you money. So there
Koren Byrne: are benefits to having these products now, not just looking
Koren Byrne: into the future as well. And yeah, and the third
Koren Byrne: one, I'm definitely of that generation of millennial that's very
Koren Byrne: much YOLO. That I've just really aged myself there in
Koren Byrne: saying that, I know I'm definitely not Gen Z. However,
Koren Byrne: I think it's a really great attitude to have sometimes,
Koren Byrne: but don't do it at the cost of your financial
Koren Byrne: security for now and in the future. By all means,
Koren Byrne: enjoy life. Enjoy the choices that you've made, enjoy the
Koren Byrne: family that you've built, whether that's you and your cat
Koren Byrne: or you, two dogs, three goldfish and a hamster, or
Koren Byrne: whether that's you married with children, don't stick your head
Koren Byrne: in the sand. Don't put things off waiting to do
Koren Byrne: other things. So just be really mindful and don't disengage
Koren Byrne: from your finances just because you're enjoying your disposable income.
Kia: I feel like this has given our listeners a lot
Kia: of encouragement, but it is just important to consider the
Kia: finances so you can protect yourself and cover yourself for
Kia: the future.
Koren Byrne: Absolutely.
Kia: Koren, this has been an incredible episode as per, because
Kia: you're a friend of the podcast, so thank you so,
Kia: so much.
Koren Byrne: Thank you for having me.
Kia: Next time we'll be joined by Ben Levett from TikTok
Kia: to talk to us all about the cost of having
Kia: a pet. I'd love it if you could review the
Kia: podcast, spread the word, and help others get a little
Kia: bit richer too. Keep up with the show on TikTok and Instagram
Kia: at Legal & General. A Little Bit Richer is brought to you
Kia: by Legal & General. Thank you for listening. See you soon.