Prepare for the Unexpected
I work for a great company. It has excellent benefits, including saving for retirement. It also offers individual medical insurance at no cost to the employee. This was actually one of the reasons that I accepted the position with the company in the first place.
Unfortunately, a few years ago, I was in quite a predicament. I was in a very severe automobile accident and I found myself with absolutely no accident insurance. My life savings and my home both went out the window, so that I could pay my medical bills and I knew that I would never allow myself to be in that situation ever again.
In fact, the only insurance I pay for on my own is vision insurance. It is the only thing that is not covered by the company, and it is affordable enough that I thought I may as well be covered. You never know when the unexpected might happen. I learned that the hard way.
