Insurance - too much/too little?

[StockBeard]

And yes, most Japanese families are massively over-insured. Even worse, they often have whole life insurance with a 'savings' component that is such a rip-off

Hear, hear.
I had not one, but 3 of those at some point. We got lured in by the "safe investment" component, before I knew better about finances. Closed one in 2012, the other two last year. Lost a lot of money in absolute, and also a lot in opportunity cost (had I invested that money in the markets instead)