I have to have outrageously expensive wind damage coverage (about $300/mo) for a very modest house, and it would still not replace it if the Big One came through. But I have no choice because I still owe on the house. I am now uninsurable, along with millions of other Florida residents, unless we join the ripoff state-sponsored pool. My house has stood up to 40 years of storms, every owner dutifully paying premiums, without any claims. But they dropped us like a hot potato after one bad year of storms. When I'm retired, I'm going to move up to Lindy Land, where a lot of Floridians are now going, provided they haven't ruined the place by the time I get there.

A house is a utility you consume, like water or electricity, but you can SAIL a boat. When you're lying in that final hospital bed with tubes and wires going in and out of you, it will be the boat you remember as you kick the bucket, not the house.