Are you smoking your kid’s college fund?
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There are lots of reasons not to smoke, and people have lots of reasons why they smoke. |
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People disagree on just what the research does or doesn’t prove.
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But one thing cuts through the smoke without needing a panel of scientists:
Smoking is expensive. |
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Consider this: |
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| A typical regular smoker smokes about a pack a day – 20 cigarettes. | ||
| Price varies depending on the brand you smoke and where you shop. | ||
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I regularly see gas stations advertising $2.50-$4.85/pack on promotions. Let’s say you spend $4.00/pack on your favorite brand.
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If you smoke 20 cigarettes a day,
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That adds up to about 365 packs each year.
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That works out to about $1,460 per year.
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Maybe that doesn’t sound like much. But suppose you quit when you get pregnant, and put the money you would have spent on smokes in a savings account. By the time your child goes to college - about 19 years from when you quit - you could have saved: |
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$33,713 |
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(Assumes 2% interest; savings accounts typically get 1-2%, stocks about 7-12%.)
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