A captain making 200k a year will get 30k a year in 401k contributions. Health insurance doesn't cost $2500/mo. ACA was a **** show, but it fixed some of the shenanigans that insurance providers used to engage in. Let's say you medical out at 55. That is a shortfall of 300k, not including compound interest, which likely puts the figure at closer to 400k conservatively. There's no reason we can't have both, but I value having tax deferred money compounding interest instead of healthcare that I can purchase on my own.