When insurance brokers look around, they see two kinds of possible customers. Every person falls into one of these two groups. Either they smoke or they don't smoke.
People who smoke sometimes for fun and people who smoke every day can both end up in the same insurance group. If he smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day, he will have to pay even more. Often, smokers pay up to three times as much for their premiums as people who don't smoke. Insurance companies think this is because smoking increases the chance of dying too soon.
Smoking costs a lot more money than just the price of a pack of cigarettes. In addition to having to buy a pack of cigarettes every time he runs out, smoking costs the smoker a lot of money in other ways.
Homes and cars that smell like cigarettes can't be sold for as much. When looking for a new home, smokers may have to pay more because insurance companies think they are more likely to start a fire.
People who smoke will also have to pay more for health insurance, dry cleaning, and visits to the dentist once a year. All of these costs quickly add up and make a big hole in a smoker's bank account.
A smoker's bank account can be hurt not only by the extra costs he has to pay, but also by getting paid less in the first place. Studies have shown that people who smoke make up to 11% less than people who don't smoke. Not only do these numbers take into account the time wasted on smoke breaks, but they also take into account how people first see you. People may not hire smokers because they think they are less attractive.
Insurance costs aren't the only thing that smokers have to worry about when it comes to money, but they are a big deal. A smoker spends his money like it's on fire. Insurance rates can go up by thousands of dollars a year for people who smoke.
Even though saving money on insurance premiums might not be enough to get a smoker to quit, he might not know how much his habit is costing him. He might even be fired. Several companies have recently been in the news for firing smokers because they have to pay more for insurance on smokers than on non-smokers.
It makes you wonder if it's worth the price.
But the high cost of smoking doesn't always just hurt the person who does it. Studies have shown that Americans spend more than $60 billion a year treating illnesses caused by smoking. When women smoke while they are pregnant, it costs the country an extra $3 billion a year. It also kills 2,500 unborn babies every year and makes many others have low birth weight and health problems for the rest of their lives.
The government spends $500 million every year putting out fires started by smokers who fall asleep or are careless about their habit. More than 2,000 people die every year in fires that were started by cigarettes. This is a very high price to pay in terms of lives.
The premiums for smokers with group life insurance go up by $4 billion a year because of smokers in the same pool who smoke.
In the United States, smoking is by far the most common cause of death before its time. Every year, smoking costs more than 400,000 people their money and their lives.
This quick fix can not only kill you, but it can also make your life a lot worse. It costs a lot to smoke cigarettes, whether it's a person's life, their property, their health, or their life insurance premiums.
