Quit Smoking, Invest the Money Spent on Cigarettes and You Might End Up a Millionaire

I'm not a smoker. I never have been and never will be. Why, you ask? Is it because I'm scared of developing lung cancer? No. What about emphysema? No, not really. Then it must be because I don't want to spread these dangerous carcinogens into the air for others to breathe-nope, try again.

I'm not a smoker for the simple reason that I cannot afford it. Oh, I have the money. I just can't afford it in the long run. You see, if I was a smoker, I would spend an average of 40% more on health insurance every year. My life insurance rates would be higher than the already ridiculously high rates I currently pay. And to cap it off, I would be more susceptible to diseases as I got older, which would mean more frequent visits to medical facilities. Translation-money, money, money right out the door.

Although this is a fairly good argument, I'm the type of person who likes to see numbers. How much am I really going to save in my lifetime if I choose not to smoke? For both smokers and non-smokers, the answers may startle you.

Let's take an average 25 year old man who smokes and compare him to his non-smoking counterpart. Our smoker, who I will call Hack, smokes an average of two packs of cigarettes per day. Each pack costs $3 for a total of $6 per day. This equates to roughly $42 per week and $180 per month. As many smokers will agree, Hack enjoys chewing on the occasional cigar on the weekends while watching football with the guys. Although each one only costs $5 (American-not Cuban), that brings his total monthly smoking expense to $200 per month.

For the average American, that may not seem like much money, but let's not forget our other expenses. The typical smoker pays an average of 40% more on health insurance. If the average person spends $500 per month on insurance, this adds an additional $200 per month to his smoking expense. Life insurance rates also go up an average of 25%. A typical $80 life insurance policy will cost a smoker $100.