Buy your own domain name and forward your mail from an address on that domain to your gmail. Keep a backup of your email. If you lose access, just create a new

Buy your own domain name and forward your mail from an address on that domain to your gmail. Keep a backup of your email. If you lose access, just create a new account and update the address you're forwarding to. This is an absolute minimum of money (under $20/year), effort, and disruption to your current habits. Plus, you get to use whatever vanity email address you want.