When it comes to insurance, I generally find that people are either over-insured or woefully under-insured. This is tragic as insurance is one of the most important aspects of most people’s financial plan. Being adequately insured is also arguably more urgent than other financial goals because you never know when the need will arise, and not having it can completely devastate a family.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. Financial advisors tend to focus more on investing because that’s where they tend to be compensated the most. The financial media also tends to give short shrift to insurance because it’s not as “interesting” as investing. This leaves most people either learning about insurance from over-zealous insurance agents or avoiding the topic altogether due to denial, procrastination, the desire to avoid said over-zealous agents, or some combination of these. As a result, here are some of the most common and dangerous myths I’ve seen about insurance:

1) Health insurance is too expensive.

According to a recent study, 15% of Americans still lack health insurance. Forty-six percent of them didn’t know they now face fines for being uninsured and 43% didn’t know they could qualify for subsidies that can make insurance more affordable, especially for the uninsured who tend to have lower incomes. Many don’t realize how affordable health insurance can be with the subsidy and how expensive it can be not to have insurance between the tax penalty and higher out-of-pocket medical costs. According to this calculator, a 26-year old non-smoking couple in my home city of San Diego earning the median uninsured household income of $37,300 would pay about $238 a month total for a mid-level plan in the exchange, just more than half the $503 cost of a plan without the subsidy.

This doesn’t just apply to the young. Many employees we speak to are afraid of retiring before they qualify for Medicare at age 65. Yet, many of them are eligible for even greater subsidies and lower health insurance costs than a lower-income American. That’s because the amount of the subsidies are based on taxable income and retirees can often reduce their taxable income by using tax-free Roth accounts and post-tax savings and investment accounts for income before age 65. If their income is low enough, their Social Security income may not be taxable either.

2) You don’t need disability insurance.

Most of us understand the need for life insurance, but did you know that you have a greater likelihood of becoming disabled than you do of dying before you retire? Think you’re covered? According to Life Happens, most long-term disabilities are not work-related and so they’re ineligible for workers compensation, and 70% of private employers don’t offer long-term disability insurance. In addition, research shows that less than half of employees have an emergency fund to pay their bills for a few months if they couldn’t work.

Even if you are covered at work, you may need a supplemental policy. That’s because any benefits paid for by your employer are fully taxable to you and you generally can’t take them with you after you leave the job. If anything happens to your health,  you may no longer be insurable after you leave your job.