Yes, insurance is a bad idea for anything that you can afford to replace if you lose it. If, however, losing that item would lead to your financial ruin (such

Yes, insurance is a bad idea for anything that you can afford to replace if you lose it. If, however, losing that item would lead to your financial ruin (such as losing your home and everything in it), then the insurance is worthwhile. It's how you avoid "gamblers ruin". Yes, on average it's a net negative expected value, otherwise the insurance companies wouldn't offer it; but it prevents you from losing the bulk of your wealth in the event of disaster, and being unable to recover from said disaster. It even says so at your link: if you can't afford to replace something, and must have it, then insurance makes sense. So, it's worthwhile buying insurance for those things that you just can't replace: your house, your body. Things that are more replaceable? I have enough money saved up to by a new car if need be. If my car is stolen or totalled, I can replace it out of pocket; so I need only the bare minimum liability insurance, not accident insurance for my car.