3 ms·
Eh, I want to agree with you because smoking is disgusting to me, but honestly in most countries is so heavily taxed these days that smokers are a net fiscal po
by eru 2y ago
Eh, I want to agree with you because smoking is disgusting to me, but honestly in most countries is so heavily taxed these days that smokers are a net fiscal positive, even if the NHS pays for their health care.
- Dibby053 2y agoWhat about life expectancy? If smoking makes you die 10 years earlier, that's ~10 years of pension savings for social insurance. Sure, an unlucky few may get lung cancer at 50 and cost a lot of money but most smokers will die, retired, of cheap ailments like COPD or hypertension without fully realizing their social security investment.
- eru 2y agoYes, public pensions make smokers even more fiscally positive on expectation. (However in my adopted home we don't have public pensions like that. Your pension pot is yours, and if you keel over, your heirs get it. But smokers are still fiscally positive. I brought up the NHS as a short-hand for any kind of healthcare system where the general taxpayer foots your medical bill.)