Quit Smoking: The One Resolution For 2014 That Pays You Back

By John Larsen

We all notice that smoking is not good for one's health. Actually in the opinion of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention tobacco use causes more than 5 million mortalities per year across the planet. About smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers do. So as 2014 has started, if you've determined to quit smoking as one of your resolutions, consider the following costs of smoking as further motivation to quit smoking.





Smoking Creates Huge Opportunity Costs:

Smoking is a high-priced habit. Buying one pack of cigarettes everyday the average smoker spends about $2,500 a year. Those funds should be put to work clearing your home loan, student loans or credit card balances, helping to improve your personal finances. But the opportunity costs are far larger when you look at the prospective future.



The average yearly return for the S&P 500 including the Great Depression and Great Recession is 7.81% during the past 20 years. If you invested $2,500 each year over 20 years you could have $140,000. Invest $2,500 yearly for 30 years and the potential return is in the ball park to $350,000. Put those same funds to work using an advanced financial newsletter service like what Summerland Associates offers and the total may be in the millions.







Smoking Creates Expensive Insurance Premiums:



Smoking also increases the price of insurance premiums. As already discussed, smokers die at an earlier age than nonsmokers do. As a consequence, your life insurance premium might be twice what a non smoker would pay. That amount can equal thousands of dollars annually. Smokers also have more medical issues than nonsmokers do so you will have to ante up more for health insurance. According to a article in Forbes, insurance firms can charge smokers 50 p.c more than they charge nonsmokers under the Affordable Care Act.

Homeowners insurance is also more pricey for smokers. Statistics are clear: people who smoke have house fires more frequently than folk who do not. That fact leads to higher insurance premiums. Statistics data also demonstrate that smokers get into more automobile crashes than nonsmokers. This implies a rise in auto insurance rates too.







The Damage Smoking Causes Requires Costly Medicinal compounds and Medical Intervention



Smoking harms almost all organs in the body in the according to the Center for Disease Control. In the process it seriously adds to your likelihood of developing coronary heart problems, peripheral vascular sickness lingering bronchitis emphysema and a range of cancers. Treatment of these conditions may need pricey medicines and hospitalization. According to the American Lung Association smoking costs the U. S. $96 billion in direct health care spending in 2004 or a median of $4,260 per adult smoker.



If you are a smoker you have lots of financial motivation to quit smoking in 2014. While the health benefits are the best for individuals that give up smoking earlier, you can cut your likelihood of sickness and death in spite of age. It will likely not be simple to do as the nicotine in cigarettes is as addictive as heroin, cocaine, and alcohol but it is possible. Be sure to visit the CDC web site for motivating stories and tips and chat with your health practitioner about smoking cessation programs available through your health insurer.

After you have successfully quit smoking be certain to speak with your insurance professional about possible nonsmoker premium reductions on all your insurance products. Ultimately put that added cash to work. Pay off debt. Save for a nice trip. Put more into your retirement account. The sky's the limit!

About the Author:

John A. Larsen, the Managing Director of Summerland Associates, LLC, has worked in financial services for 20+ years starting in banking. John has held Series 7, 63, and insurance licenses working with high net worth clients to craft better portfolios. John has spent the last 10+ years refining advanced investment theories
into a series of practical techniques that drive the Summerland Alerts. More articles are available on Summerland Associates website or thru Wealth Building Ideas, made availalbe for iPads.