Financial Reasons To Stop Smoking

Normally, the fact that a product causes cancer and kills someone might be enough of a reason to avoid it. Obviously, that was a bit crass--cigarettes are addicting, the tobacco companies constantly try to come up with new ways to make it even more addicting, and it's very difficult to stop doing something that you have done daily for years upon years. As Warren Buffett has said, 'The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.' And unfortunately, not only do cigarettes imperil your health, but they can also whack a whallop in your finances. The average pack of cigarettes cost about $5, and let's say you smoke four packs per week. That comes out to $20 per week, or $80 a month. On an annualized basis, you would be spending almost $1000 per year in cigarettes. Over the course of a lifetime, that could be in the neighborhood of $40,000-$50,000. How much more fun would it be if you socked that money on Coca-Cola stock, Pepsi stock, or Berkshire Hathaway? Guess what $1,000 per year, compounded at 10%, for 40 years equals? Almost $650,000. Not a bad chunk of change. And as governments continue to heavily tax cigarettes to raise revenue and discourage consumption, the price of cigarettes is only going to increase from here. If you want to read a great article on this topic, be sure to visit Sustainable Personal Finance by clicking here: http://sustainablepersonalfinance.com/how-to-stop-smoking-cigarettes/ .