>>The only time it is irresponsible is when the odds are against you. I have great genes and no family history of terrible disease. I knew that the odds were in my favor ;)

Do you have insurance on your new home?

How often do your houses get burgled or burn down?

Insurance works and costs are manageable when the majority agrees that against unlikely but catastrophic events, it is worth paying a relatively small sum for insurance. Participation by low risk people, like most here when it comes to home insurance, makes insurance affordable for all who want it. This also is the Socialist philosophy, not that you'll ever agree to that.

Until Obamacare, healthcare costs were the biggest cause of middle class bankruptcies in the USA. People who shared your assessment of risk, were under-insured and paid the price. You were lucky, but not everybody else was. As the cost of insurance rose, choice was reduced for many because costs simply became unaffordable. I won't bore you with the figures as you've ignored previous episodes of same, but these sorts of facts are not trumped by political sound bites.

There's also the $375K of benefits scooped per member of your generation over and above what you paid in, which now dooms kids to paying in over $400K more than they'll ever see back. $375K pays for a lot of insurance policies and first home deposits for a lot of youngsters, so maybe you need to write a $375K check to pay it back before you start scolding others to emulate your financial prowess despite your $375K albatross around their neck.