Quit Smoking and Health Care

Everyone knows about the negative impact smoking cigarettes can do to your health. Numerous studies have been published showing how tobacco is related to a number of illnesses including cancer, emphysema, and more. Smoking can also have a negative affect on your wallet, as a pack of cigarettes has gotten more and more expensive over the past years. But did you know that cigarette smoke can actually lower the value of your car?

If you’re without auto insurance and looking to sell your car (or putting your car on the market for any other reason), then you want to know how much you can realistically aim to get for the vehicle. Due to a variety of reasons, cigarette smoke can reduce your car’s worth by over $1,000.

The interior condition of your car is one of the most important factors when it comes to determining its value. If someone has smoked in your car, then the following things can lead to the value decreasing drastically:

• Cigarette smoke leaves a harsh smell that can be impossible to completely remove from your car’s interior, particularly if it’s cloth. Cars that reek of cigarette smoke are a lot less desirable than those that don’t, so people are sure to offer you less money for the vehicle.
• The market for autos that have been smoked in is significantly smaller than that for cars that have never been smoked in. The truth is that many people won’t even consider purchasing a car that’s been smoked in. This smaller market results in less competition, leading to you selling your car for a lower price.
• If you’ve had your car for a long time and have smoked in it for the majority of that time, chances are that you’ve burned or stained your vehicle’s interior at one point or another. Unsightly burns or smoke stains can make your car appear older than it really is, which will decrease its value.

So think before you light up inside your car—you’re diminishing its value, making it harder for you to sell it down the road.

Katrina Robinson is a freelance writer who covers a wide variety of topics ranging from finances and car insurance to lifestyle and diet.

Smoking cigarettes is one of the worst habits that you can have—particularly because of how difficult it can be to quit. Smoking is awful for your health. Research shows that smokers are twice as likely to have heart disease as non-smokers, and smoking or use tobacco has also been associated with a number of cancers, respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. As if this isn’t incentive enough to urge you to quit smoking, did you know that smoking cigarettes can also have a negative affect on your insurance rates?

Here’s something to think about: smokers can pay up to three times the life insurance premium of a non-smoker. While some smokers see this as lifestyle discrimination, the facts are undeniable. The average smoker dies a full 25 years earlier than the typical non-smoker, so it only makes sense that their life insurance premium would be higher.

So what’s the technical difference between a smoker and a non-smoker? According to the majority of life insurance companies, you’re not a true non-smoker until you’ve been free of tobacco use for a full year. At this point, you can qualify for a standard life insurance rate, and if you can abstain for three years, you might be able to qualify for preferred rates. Stay away from tobacco for a full five years, and you could even get the best rates available—preferred-plus rates.

But how are the life insurers going to know if you smoke occasionally? Well, when you sign up for a life insurance policy, you will undergo a urinalysis, which will look for the presence of tobacco. If you’re able to quit smoking for a couple of weeks in order to pass the urinalysis, and then later on you pass away due to a smoking-related illness, your claim would most likely be denied, meaning that your beneficiaries would be left with absolutely nothing.

Now that you know the facts, are you ready to quit smoking?

Katrina Robinson is a freelance writer who covers a wide range of topics ranging from finances and online insurance quotes to lifestyle and diet.