Ever wonder why the wallet is lighter than usual? If smoking is part of a daily way of life, the cost factor is a massive attribute to an empty bank account. If the health effects of smoking is not bad enough to quit for some, perhaps the cost analysis will be. In an infograph provided by Wallet Hub smokers across the nation can be labeled as unofficial millionaires. They may be unaware of this title, but definitely feel the financial pinch over a lifespan of smoking the deadly nicotine sticks. To bring the numbers closer to home, an average smoker in Alaska will spend more than $1.5 million over their lifetime on cigarettes.
How did the gurus calculate the numbers? The methodology of the math includes taking the average cost of a pack of smokes per state, and simply calculating it against the number of days in 51 years. There was also an inflation rate included in the costs.
Why 51 years? The average smoker reports starting the stinky habit when they were 18-years-old, and based on health findings, the average lifespan of a smoker who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day is 51 years from the onset, if otherwise healthy. Not a pleasant thought, is it? This of course does not include accelerated diseases or terminal illnesses that may be aggravated by smoking, or genetic factors. Alaska is noted as the highest state of cost consideration, but the minimum is not much better.
South Carolina is ranked as the “cheapest” for smokers, meaning on an average over a lifespan of 51 years, a smoker will easily kiss $1 million dollars away. Keep in mind, raising a child from birth to the age of 18 is estimated to be around $250,000 per child, on a national scale.
Reconsidering that second pack? Alaskans are losing more than $200,000 over their lifetime earnings for a bad habit. Total accumulated costs for health care expenses, income loss and more? Alaskan smokers will see a total of $2,032,916 gone from their 51 years of life by embracing a habit that has shown repeatedly to be poisonous. The cost of a slow kill is brutal in more ways than one.
To see where your state ranks on this eye-opening list, check out the infograph on Wallet Hub’s website.
While warnings from a doctor may not make people reconsider this nicotine fetish, perhaps a hit to the wallet will draw a final conclusion to quit once and for all. After all, a death wish slated for 69 is not something anyone looks forward to investing into.