Being a smoker with life insurance can kill your wallet
When insurance brokers meet a new client the first health related question is typically are you a smoker? Every individual person fits into one of the two categories. They are either smokers or non-smokers.
Someone who occasionally smokes socially and someone who smokes everyday can end up in the same insurance category. You will pay even more if you smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day. Often premium rates for smokers can be up to three times the rate non-smokers pay. This is because insurance companies believe that smoking amplifies the risk of untimely death.
The financial penalties of smoking extend far past the price of a pack of cigarettes. In addition to the nickel-and-dime of a pack of smokes every time you run out, you endure costly consequences to lighting up.
Homes and vehicles that retain the stench of cigarette smoke lose resale value. Smokers can also be penalized when shopping for a new home because insurance companies believe smokers are more likely to burn down the house.
Smokers will also pay more for health insurance, dry cleaning and yearly teeth cleaning appointments. All of these costs add up quickly to put a hefty dent in a smoker’s wallet.
It isn’t simply what a smoker pays in extra an expense that reduces funds, but being paid less in the first place can cause their bank account to suffer as well. Studies have shown that smokers earn up to 11 percent less than non-smokers. These figures not only take into account time wasted on smoke breaks, but first impressions as well. Smokers may be perceived as less attractive and therefore passed by for jobs.
Insurance costs aren’t the only money matters smoker’s have to worry about; however, it is a huge issue. A smoker literally burns their money away. That nicotine rush can cost thousands of dollars a year more in insurance premiums.
While saving money on insurance premiums may not persuade them to quit smoking, they may not be conscious of how much the habit is actually costing everyone.
Is being a smoker worth the cost?
But, the high cost of smoking doesn’t necessarily only affect the smoker them self. Documented studies have shown that smoking has a substantial impact on health and life expectancy—smokers could lose about 9 years of life expectancy.
Smoking is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. Recent studies have estimated that 21% of all deaths over the past decade are due to smoking.
According to estimates, health care spending related to smoking accounts for between 6% and 15% of total annual healthcare costs in high-income countries like Canada
Smokers with group life insurance push up premiums for smokers in the same pool by 4 billion dollars a year.
That quick fix can not only be deadly, but greatly reduce quality of life as well. Be it human life, depreciation of property, health factors or jacked-up life insurance premiums, the decision to smoke cigarettes is costly.
Canadian smoking statistics – http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2012001/article/11676-eng.htm