Money College: Smoking burns a hole in your wallet

Inhale... Finesse the filter on the tips of your fingers like a freshly-peeled grape... Now exhale and watch the plume twist and curl like outline of a nubile feminine figure...

Smoking is sexy.

No matter how you respond to that assertion, the majority of young people who initially reach for a cigarette do so thinking it will help their public image. Whether it was a "Sex in the City" character smoking Marlboro Lights, a film noir detective brooding in the shadows with his cig, Audrey Hepburn striking a pose, or a teenager rebelling against his or her parents, smoking cigarettes is a defining character trait.