Apple Inc (AAPL)

[BlueDjinn]

What's stupid about it is that the same advice would apply to ANY purchase:

"Take a guy filling his gas tank who's 30 years old and is not maxing out contributions to his or her 401(k) retirement plan (few are).

In that case, the $40 could have been invested tax free. Earning a pretty reasonable 5.5% after inflation over the next 35 years, it would have grown to ... $297.97.

You read that right.

In short: That's how much this customer withdrew from retirement savings to pay for an iPhone."

(substitute any other dollar amount for any other purchase).

In fairness, the guy is taking the view of the iPhone as a luxury item instead of a basic necessity of modern life, but you could still apply this reasoning to DVDs, CDs, movie tickets, sporting events, concerts, candy bars or any number of other "unnecessary" purchases.

Basically, if you want to be rich when you're 70, the key is to lie down and stay perfectly still for the preceeding 50 years. Brilliant!