Oh the joys of self employment.
I have insurance for myself, my wife and our two kids through Blue Cross Blue Shield. It isn't exactly cheap and it keeps going up. The cost of health care in this country is a major problem. Of course there is also the rising cost of carbide, but that's another story...
I have life insurance too.
I don't have dental or vision because I think overall it is cheaper to just pay out of pocket. It is also cheaper to take care of your teeth than repair them. Repairs are cheaper if caught early. A filling is a couple hundred bucks, but a crown is more like $600. A bridge is well over a thousand and an implant is way more than that. A high end electric tooth brush is a good investment. So is dental floss.
I buy used cars with cash and don't pay for full insurance coverage, only basic liability. Overall it is cheaper to pay repairs out of pocket. The money I've saved doing this over the years would easily pay to replace every automobile in my driveway. It just means I have to keep money aside to cover repair bills if they come up, which requires a little fiscal discipline. So you might call that "self insured".
I try hard to avoid debt because living overextended is the most expensive way to live. If a person can get a good little buffer they have better options and can avoid a lot of expenses.
The rising cost of health insurance is a big problem for me. Between the cost of insurance, deductibles and medical bills I spend close to $10,000 a year for a family of four for medicine. Aside from my mortgage that is the single largest expense we have, and unlike a mortgage there is no "equity" building up, that money is gone. That is a tough pill to swallow for a self employed individual.
