When most people hear the word insurance, they think paperwork, premiums, and that one claim that somehow took three months longer than promised.
That reaction makes sense.
But insurance was never meant to be the end game.
It’s a tool. A bridge. A temporary solution.
Stick with me.Picture this.
You’re camping. You bring a tent. Not because you’re hoping for a storm. You bring it because storms are part of the deal. The tent doesn’t stop the rain. It just keeps you dry long enough to make it through the night.
That’s insurance.
Insurance doesn’t prevent bad things from happening. It simply moves the financial damage somewhere else until you’re strong enough to absorb it yourself.
What Insurance Is Actually For
Insurance has one job: to carry risk you can’t afford to carry. That’s it.
If your house burned down tomorrow, could you write a check and rebuild without wrecking your life? Most people can’t. So we transfer that risk.
If a lawsuit shows up with a seven-figure price tag, could you shrug it off and keep moving? Probably not. Transfer the risk.
Insurance steps in exactly where your budget taps out.
The Part Almost No One Talks About
Here’s the uncomfortable truth.
The goal isn’t to insure everything forever. The goal is to self-insure more over time.
That doesn’t mean being reckless or dropping coverage to “save money.” It means building margin. Cash. Stability. Optionality. So fewer things can actually hurt you. That’s why deductibles matter.
When you raise a deductible, what you’re really saying is,“I can handle the small stuff. I just want protection from the things that would crush me.”
That’s not risky. That’s growth.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
Early on, insurance is a crutch. And that’s okay. Then it becomes a safety net. Eventually, for some risks, it becomes optional.
That’s why people with real wealth insure against what could financially devastate them, not inconvenience them.
They know the difference between annoying and life-altering.
The Actual Win
Insurance isn’t about fear.
It’s about strategy.
It’s about protecting what would wreck you while you work toward a life where fewer things can.
The win isn’t having more insurance.
The win is needing less of it.
Insurance transfers risk.
Wisdom decides how much you keep.
And the goal, over time, stays simple:
Carry what you can.
Transfer what you can’t.
Keep moving forward.