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Expense Impact Calculator
A $5 daily coffee habit isn't $1,825 a year. It's the future value of that $1,825 invested instead — over 30 years, that's well into six figures. This calculator shows the true opportunity cost of any recurring expense by projecting what it would have grown to if invested at real historical returns.
Your $6/daily habit over 30 years
costs you
$412,856
$65,750 spent + $347,105 in lost investment gains
Total Spent
$65,750
If Invested Instead
$412,856
Opportunity Cost Over Time
How the Expense Impact Calculator Works
The math
Recurring spend = monthly contribution forgone. We compound it at your chosen rate (or the real CAGR of any asset) over your chosen horizon. The result is the total wealth lost to that spending — typically 5–20× the nominal sum spent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn't this just judgmental?
No — the point isn't to give up everything. It's to make the trade explicit. Sometimes the answer is "yes, that coffee is worth $200K to me over 30 years." Sometimes it's "wait, really?" Either way, you're informed.
What return rate should I use?
Same as for any long-horizon investment plan. 7–10% is the realistic range for diversified equity; toggle Realistic Returns to use the actual CAGR for whatever asset you'd invest in.
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