There's always the failure scenario where some flaw in the curve is exploited or a fork introduces catastrophic imbalance of incentives and tradeoffs, and bitcoin loses value until it can fix the issue and spend years and years rebuilding its reputation, if even possible.

In that scenario, no amount of shaving off a little bitcoin at a time will help. Most would regret not building a fiat insurance nest that, at the very least, puts them far ahead of the rat race.