Friday, March 09, 2007
The dollar cost of smoking
Here's an interesting one from Dave Ramsey, Christian financial counselor. How much does smoking set a person back?
He says a pack of cigarrettes is about $4.65. (Can't confirm that from my own experience.) At one pack a day, thirty days a month, that comes to $139.50/month. If instead of burning it up and breathing it, you put that in a 12% mutual fund, how much would that come to over a lifetime?
For a 16 year old, who puts that money into a Roth IRA until age 76, it comes to a rather staggering 18 MILLION. (And that does not include the lower cost of insurance, doc bills, etc.)
How about for a 2 pack/day smoker, stopping at age 36? 3.2 million bucks at age 76. Now I have to go talk to my nephew!
He says a pack of cigarrettes is about $4.65. (Can't confirm that from my own experience.) At one pack a day, thirty days a month, that comes to $139.50/month. If instead of burning it up and breathing it, you put that in a 12% mutual fund, how much would that come to over a lifetime?
For a 16 year old, who puts that money into a Roth IRA until age 76, it comes to a rather staggering 18 MILLION. (And that does not include the lower cost of insurance, doc bills, etc.)
How about for a 2 pack/day smoker, stopping at age 36? 3.2 million bucks at age 76. Now I have to go talk to my nephew!
