Related, if only somewhat tangentially, to the last post, is the number of people who are one minor disaster (unexpected health event, for example, either for yourself, your kids, or your ageing parent ) away from ruin, yet weirdly fail to realize that. They made it work, why can't you? Hopefully most people won't be made homeless by such events (though some are, of course), but they might have to pull their kids out of college (no entrepreneurial future for them!), or withdraw what little is in their retirement account (save early!), or destroy their future careers/earnings due to having to take care of an ailing parents.
Do the right thing, work hard, even been fortunate enough to have pretty good backup support from the bank of mom and dad. You're still one bad roll away from the darkest timeline. Once you're in that hole, it's really hard to get out.
