Smokers are much more likely to develop serious health condition compared to non smokers. The NHS states that smoking can increase the risk of up to 50 different health conditions, some of which are fatal. Included in the possible conditions are; stroke, heart disease, and various forms of cancer. It is clear, therefore, that quitting smoking is extremely beneficial to one’s health. But, not only would you become better off health wise, you would also save a lot of cash. Just how financially better off you could become may be very surprising.
Take Doris…
Doris, along with her twin sister Deborah, began smoking at the age of 16. Like many girls their age, they began smoking due to peer pressure. Now, at the age of 60, Doris has been smoking most of her life and has been diagnosed with lung cancer. This is devastating news to Doris and her sister, and without Deborah to help out financially and pay for private care, Doris would have struggled even more during this stressful and worrying time.
Take Deborah, Doris’s sister…
Deborah began smoking at 16 like her sister, but quit at the age of twenty. Instead of paying around £15 per week for cigarettes she decided to save the money instead. Deborah was smart, and she invested the money into stocks, with the goal of hopefully having enough money to live a comfortable retirement when she was older. So, each month, from the age of 20, Deborah invested the £60 no matter what. She did not miss the money much; she did after all used to smoke it all away, so she gave her investment little thought over the years and continued to put her money aside.
Now, at the age of 60, Deborah retires from her work and decides to take a look at her investment to see how well her moderate monthly contributions did. If the health benefits of quitting smoking were not enough, she now was also an extremely wealthy woman and could enjoy her retirement. The stock market had grew an average of 12% each year (as it has done from 1918 to 1999 according to the CSFB), and Deborah now had acuminated over half a million pounds sterling!
Conclusion
Okay, this may be an extreme example, and it is indeed fictional, but the principal remains. Smoking does nothing more than damage your health and bank balance. Quit smoking and become more healthy and wealthy.
