Now that I'm nearing my 40s, it has recently been creeping up on me and I simply can't brush it away nor do anything about it as a freelancer.
If I get anything life threatening and I literally mean anything, I have no means to take care of it. I had a partial lung collapse few months ago that cleared out on its own but if the whole thing popped, so would I.
I don't have credit due to school loans and am starting to feel like they used me when I was most productive as a teacher and threw me out (latest company killed my hrs cause I was sick). Gave a good 20 years and now I'm like, not old, but I feel pretty old cause I don't know how much more life I have left in me simply because if the roof caves in from a storm, I will literally have to live without a roof. What the fuck man.
edit: and come to think of it, my first real office job had the works, 401k, insurance, FSA you name it. Then 2008 hit and then all my savings (I don't have a family so it's just me).