Smoking Costs You (more than your health)

Some people are not motivated by better health, longer lives, cleaner air, less wrinkles, better breath, whiter teeth or even cancer and emphysema prevention. Maybe they are motivated by cold hard cash. Share THIS with them!

Sure, a pack of smokes isn't cheap (especially in areas like New York City, where they cost about $7.)
But a lifelong smoking habit will cost you significantly more than that. Consider this: A 24-year-old male and female who smoke for 60 years will spend $220,000 and $106,000, respectively, not only on cigarettes but also on higher life- and property-insurance premiums, medical care, and lost earnings due to disability, according to 2004 research conducted by Dr. Frank Sloan, Duke University professor and co-author of "The Price of Smoking."

Smokers get hit especially hard with their life-insurance premiums. When a smoker is 60 years old, he or she will pay $5,360 per year in premiums for a 10-year term, $500,000 standard policy, according to the Insurance Information Institute's 2006 figures. A nonsmoker would pay $2,275 . . . . . a 57.5% difference!

The effects of smoking are also felt in the workplace. Smokers earn $26,000 less than nonsmokers over their lifetime, according to Sloan. "They're less likely to be promoted because they're away from their desks often taking smoking breaks, and they tend to be sick and miss work more often than nonsmokers," says Sloan.

The financial hit even follows a smoker to his or her final resting place. Nonsmokers see an extra $5,127 in Social Security payments that smokers miss out on because of their reduced life expectancy, according to Sloan. See AOL's story Get Rich: Quit Smoking for more ways that smoking is costing you.

(source: AOL)