and what did I get for that? A decent meal, company of my colleagues, a break in my work day... and no matter what, unless I'm fasting, I'm gonna spend at least $30K over those 40 years to eat something for lunch. So, okay, I put that $30K into my 401K.. big deal... I'll take the benefits now.

Now, I do hear you, the people who stop in at 7-11, Maverik, Starbucks and other places for a 'morning cuppa' probably dump $10 easy, then use your lunch figure of $15 and it's $25 a day without thinking or about $6,250 a year... just on themselves, not the family. If you are in the median income grouping, that's 10% of your entire GROSS. And if you were starting today, it's going to be about $250,000 by the time you retire in 40 years.