North County Times > It's Your Life
Recovering Both Health and Wealth
by Candace Bahr
No matter how carefully you plan, real life can throw you a curve. That's what my client (I'll call her Jane) discovered two years ago. A 44-year-old single woman with both an MBA and a CPA, she was the perfect example of meticulous financial planning. She had a job with a lot of responsibility and travel, had accumulated a substantial retirement nest egg, and had no debt.
Then life happened. As she prepared for a Hawaiian vacation, she doubled over with abdominal pain. The vacation was canceled while she sought medical help.
Although the doctors were in disagreement about the details, they all agreed that it was cancer and it was bad.
Jane's troubles continued. In a round of massive layoffs, she lost her executive job just as she was starting chemotherapy. The $650-a-month cost of continuing health care coverage strained her budget. Her long-term boyfriend called it quits. Cancer therapy and her other skyrocketing medical costs maxed out the insurance policy
Undefeated, Jane persevered. After a tumultuous life-altering journey, today she has recovered both her health and her finances. She has a new job with an innovative company, and she loves it. It has been one year since her last chemo treatment, and she has proudly paid off almost all of the debt from her medical ordeal.
When Jane came in for her annual financial review, she shared the lessons she has learned.
Hope for the best and plan for the worst, she says. Though the premiums were expensive, she is thankful that she continued medical insurance coverage. More than 47 million Americans don't have health insurance, and medical expenses are a major cause of bankruptcy.
Stand up for yourself, or get an advocate who can. Through it all, she kept track of her medical expenses, and if she saw a discrepancy (and there were many), she pursued it. When a needed medical procedure was denied by insurance, she fought the insurance company to cover the treatment.
Jane learned that you can successfully balance being proactive and independent without having to be in complete control. The journey taught her a valuable lesson as she learned to trust and have faith in God and those whom God works through.Ý
Now that this stage of her life's journey is behind her, Jane approaches the future with changed priorities and focus. In the end, she says, it's truly all about being happy, finding joy in all of life's experiences and quality of life. "I don't spend money on status symbols, I focus on creating and investing in items and experiences that improve my life and well-being."
