I get where you're going, but you're lumping together two things that really shouldn't be. Preparing for your financial future, while it's not something that Americans are particularly good at, is just plain smart. Many spouses have life insurance policies because things happen and the lack of a policy that will help your spouse provide for themselves following your death can translate into a severe financial burden. Losing a spouse is tough enough, but think about adding the potential stress of being forced out of your home because you can no longer float the costs, etc. (And no, I'm not in financial sales at all).

I do agree with you, however, that ideally people should just relax, take precautions that they can and let the chips fall. I was just hit by a car last week. Luckily, the incident was minor as accidents go and apart from some nasty scrapes, I didn't really have any damage and my bike escaped unharmed thanks in large part to my body serving as a shield Despite being shaken up by it a little, I thanked my lucky stars I wasn't injured, took to heart some defensive things I might could have done along that stretch to avoid a similar situation and was back out for two rides this weekend.

As the late, great Warren Zevon famously said "Life'll kill you." You might as well have some fun while you're around.