[scottLobster]

Speaking for myself, it's not about impressing others. Fun exercise: Find the word "average" in these comments (or any synonym) and replace it with "fragile". That's the issue.

"Essential bills" as you put them can skyrocket at a moment's notice no matter how frugal you are. I watched my mom battle cancer for 10 years before she finally succumbed to it, and if my dad had had a lesser job it would have bankrupted us as a family. Furthermore I've seen said medical bankruptcy in some close friends, and that's just one of many things that can and do inevitably go wrong in life even for the best people. "Average" can turn to "destitute" in a matter of weeks.

My goal is for my fiancée and I to have enough in the bank for our future family to afford the best available solution to any problem we might have. Car gets totaled? I want to walk into a Carmax and come out with a $10-15,000 replacement the same day. We have a kid with special needs? I want to be able to afford the best teachers and schools there are. I get in an accident and have to go on half-pay for a few months? I want rent/mortage, groceries and other necessities taken care of. I'd also like to be able to afford 10+ years of medical care in my senior years and not risk going bankrupt.

Granted I'm only 29 and healthy with a good job, and my fiancée's working on getting her career started so we've got plenty of time and opportunity; but damn straight I'm going for millions, and I'll happily work 60+ hour weeks for decades to get there if that's what it takes. I'm not above taking vacations or breaks or weekends off, and I don't kill myself. I eat well, sleep well, exercise, have date night, etc. But I don't play nearly as many video games as younger me thought I would. :) It's worth it, and I sure as hell won't be squandering the effort on multiple houses or fancy cars.

[roma1n]

Aaaaand that's when socialized health-care, good public shcools and good public transportation saves the day. Come to France!

[nxsynonym]

Ideally you should be able to live life without these worries on a singular, average paying job - no?

These events could happen to everyone - why is it required to go "above and beyond" to have some sort of sense of security in life?

[scottLobster]

Ideally, but we don't live in an ideal world. Stuff costs money, and the best stuff costs more money. That holds true no matter what percentage the taxpayers might cover. Baseline coverage for anything is great until you're hit by something that's not covered. Maybe your college financial aid doesn't cover that extra year that you want to take, or your condition requires experimental surgery that basic insurance won't cover, or your homeowners' insurance doesn't cover fires caused by Galaxy Note 7s because of some bullshit fine print. :) Or you didn't understand your mortgage terms and get screwed out of your house entirely unless you've got some massive financial cushion.

On the public side, I look at our (US) government's spending habits and they're clearly unsustainable long term. I know national debt isn't like personal debt, but at some point there has to be a reckoning, or more likely a series of smaller but no less meaningful reckonings. Combined with advances in technology threatening to take away even white collar jobs (although as an engineer mine's probably safe), one way or another we're in for some very turbulent times. I want my family insulated from that. I want to be the rich guy who gets hit by the great depression... and is moderately less rich. :)

I'm already lucky, if I wanted to I could take my foot off the gas at my current job and probably not have to worry about 80% of life's financial problems, but I know eventually one of the 20% is going to come along and wreck my shit. So I work to close that gap.

In short: Figuratively speaking I'm not satisfied with my own emergency shelter, I want my own protective carrier battlegroup. No matter where I live or what I do, that kind of protection takes money.

[piva00]

So basically you are overworking yourself in the richest country of the world because the society you live in is structured in such a way that every single person is responsible for their own safety regarding emergencies that are completely unpredictable and could be alleviated with a more collectivist worldview where everyone could contribute a bit more to help those in need.

I don't mind my taxes paying for my friend who's on his 4th month of sick leave because of a sudden and deep depression, it's a very small cost for me so society in general can be healthier.