Smoking Laws in NY and NJ

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Lets say smoking was banned and everyone stopped smoking tomorrow... obviously in the long run the average age of the population is going to increase and probably result in an increase in health care costs anyway.

I wonder how much of a tradeoff it would be... killing people off early vs. people living longer.

But when people live longer and healthier lives, they contribute to society by working longer.

If you're assuming the average retirement age stays exactly where it is now, then I agree with you. But it won't. As the country's life expectancy rises, many will continue working well into their 60s and 70s (especially amongst the working class population who don't have the wherewithall to build large retirement savings accounts).