Writing assignment: 250 words on this. “How much money won’t I have at age 70 if I keep watching TV? Is TV worth this?”
I never really thought about this question before. I never realized that TV could cost you so much money in the long run. So when I read this question, I started to examine how much I actually watch. Each day, I watch from 6:30–7:00 a.m., and then again from 5:00–9:00 p.m. This averages out to about 4.5 hours per day.
I then added it up for the week, which is about 31.5 hours, and for a month, approximately 136 hours. If I invested that time in working on my business or another job for about $20 per hour, I could earn $2,730 per month. If I reinvested 100% of my earnings and earned 10% annual interest, by age 20 my money could grow to about $211,300.This is if I just started from age 15.
This already sounds like enough of a reason to cut down on screen time. But if I start investing at age 15, and by age 20 I raise my salary to $50 per hour while continuing to compound at 10% for 50 years, my wealth could reach well into the millions by age 70.
I believe that this little experiment shows that TV is far from free. Every hour you waste on a screen is money you are not earning to live an amazing life. By doing this experiment, I saw that if I keep watching TV as much as I do now, I am essentially turning down a huge amount of wealth.
In conclusion, TV might provide a good laugh or some entertainment, but it costs you a lot of lost wealth. Cutting back even slightly could profoundly affect both my financial future and yours.
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