Friday, August 5, 2011

Money Talk

First & foremost, it is FRIDAY!

With the market meltdown {it's pure craziness on the trading floor this week} I read this article via my daily finance reading & found it interesting enough to share.

A common question- How much does spending a couple of bucks on small priced items here-and-there really impact your overall savings? Here is a simple example for you.

*Assume these are bought 5x week for 40 weeks a year (200 out of 365 days), purchased over a 35yr career.

  • Latte ($3.95 each) = $27,650
  • Energy drink ($3.99 each) = $27,930
  • Muffin ($3 each) = $21,000
  • Lunch ($8 each) = $56,000
  • TOTAL: $132,580

Per the researcher, if this $132k was put into your retirement savings gaining a 3% return (very modest), you'd end up with an extra $246,560 after 35 years.

Pretty crazy, huh?

I agree, who really wants to deprive themselves of a little morning latte or pack their lunch everyday when it's a nice break to get out of the office for a bit. Not to mention, 35 years seems like a really long ways a way. 

But I'll admit, it's an interesting calculation. It's a nice number. And ask yourself, is home brewed coffee really that bad? Call me vain, but I'll gladly give up a muffin for that type of return...more change, less curves.

Anyway, the point of the article is these small purchases really do add up over a time and
if you give up a little now, you'll gain much more in the end.


Just a little Food for Friday thought.

Signing off on a TGIF note,













 Happy Weekend!

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