Picking up on that, I asked Deborah if she drank the office coffee.

“No way,” Deborah replied. “The office coffee is the worst. I go downstairs and buy a latté every morning.”

I asked, “Do you buy a single or double latté?”

“I always buy a double nonfat latté.”

“Great,” I said. “Now, what does that double nonfat latté cost you ever morning?”

“Oh, about $2.50.”

“Do you just get a latté, or do you also get a muffin or a bagel with that?”

“I usually get a biscotti.”

“Do you get the biscotti with chocolate on them?”

“Oh, yes,” Deborah enthused. “I love the ones with chocolate.”

“Great, Deborah. Now, what does the chocolate biscotti cost?”

“I guess about $1.50.”

“So you’re spending about $4 a day for a latté and a biscotti. Interesting.”

I let Deborah continue taking me through her day. In the process, we found another $10 in miscellaneous costs—a candy bar here, a Power Bar there, a protein shake in the afternoon, and so on.

When she was done, I pointed out that just by cutting out her latté, a couple of Diet Cokes, and a candy bar, Deborah could save about $5 a day—and that $5 a day equaled roughly $150 a month, or almost $2,000 a year. This $2,000 could be put into her retirement plan at work, where it could grow tax-free until she retired. If she put in $2,000 every year, and she invested it all in stocks (which have enjoyed an average growth rate of 11 percent a year over the last 50 years), chances are that by the time she reached 65, she would have more than $2 million sitting in her account. In other words, she would be able to retire a multimillionaire!