What that daily coffee is really costing your retirement
Small, repeated spending adds up—and when you skip it and invest instead, that money can compound for decades. See how much one habit (like a daily $8 coffee) could become by retirement if you invested it instead.
The “latte factor” in numbers
It’s not about giving up coffee. It’s about seeing the trade-off. Every dollar you spend today is a dollar that can’t earn 8% or so per year for the next 20–30 years. Use the calculator below with your own price and frequency to see how much that habit could grow to by retirement.
Coffee (or any habit) → retirement impact
Enter the cost per drink, how often you buy it, years until retirement, and an assumed growth rate. We’ll show how much that spending could become if invested instead.
Assumes 8% average annual return, compounded yearly. Not a guarantee—just illustrative.
Again: the point isn’t “never buy coffee.” It’s understanding the opportunity cost. If you trim one habit and invest the difference, you’re giving that money decades to compound. See why compounding matters and the retirement calculator for the full picture.
Related research
The ideas in this guide are backed by academic and policy research. We organize fundamental studies by Margin Score pillar on our Research page.
View research for this pillar →Key studies: Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data.