I&#x27;m curious about what you mean by &quot;financing your own safety net&quot;?<p>If you take an average middle class person in the US, your company will provide you with health insurance, so that&#x27;s covered.  If you come down with a horrible illness and can&#x27;t work, your employer provides LT disability insurance.  If you run out of that, you have Social Security disability insurance.  And even if that runs out, you have Medicaid disability insurance.<p>I won&#x27;t argue that the EU provides a more comprehensive safety net (probably easier access as well), but US isn&#x27;t that far behind.