1) Most people don't have enough money to buy a house outright and never will.
That would mean you'd never be able to have a house at all, since borrowing money is always MUCH more hideously expensive. That means you're going to be stuck living out of a trailer for awhile.
2) Over the course of your life, if you put all the money you pay in insurance premiums in the bank and never touch it except to pay for the stuff that insurance would have covered, you'll come out ahead. However, a) most people would spend it on something else (better computers, Sims expansion packs, etc.) and b) if the bad stuff happens early in your life, there won't be enough money in the bank to pay for it.
See, there's that "irresponsible spending habits" problem again. And who cares what happens early? You haven't invested enough in it for it to matter, so what difference does it make? It's like playing against people who always just rush. You figure either you survive it and you'll have satisfying late-game, or you won't, and it'll be over quickly.
Sheesh, Pes. Many of us prefer living above ground rather than in some homesteaded bunker with a dirt floor, surrounded by exterior mud walls.
No pain, no gain. If you're not willing to suffer in the short term, you'll never do well in the long term.
No, no, no, you got it all wrong. Borrow huge, build your bunker
and live plush. When tech goes to heck in about 5 years, no one will know you owe. So, you can live in the lap of luxury today and still have your bunker tomorrow.