Ever wonder how much a bad habit costs you? If you smoke a pack of Marlboros a day in FL it will cost you over $6 a day ($12.50 in NYC). How much will that cost you over your lifetime? Well let's assume that you start today and live for another 35 years because on average smokers die after 35 years of the activity. Also assume a 10% return on your savings and to be conservative we'll assume that the price of cigarettes don't go up for 35 years.
That pack a day will cost you $593,543 in 35 years. That's what people call the "latte factor" because it's a seemingly mundane cost, like a latte from Starbucks, that can add up to a large amount over your lifetime.
Now if you choose not to smoke and save that $6/day until you retire at 65, when you started at 18, then you'll have $1,909,624 assuming all else constant. This also does not include the lower health insurance you'll pay. Nor does it count the employer contribution to your retirement plan.
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