The Opportunity Cost of a Daily Starbucks Latte

ChartTalk: It’s Econ 101. When you buy one thing, you’re giving up the opportunity to buy something else. Here we look at the opportunity cost of buying a daily cup of coffee—instead of investing that pocket change into high-flying stocks.

How much would a daily latte take out of your wallet? What else are you giving up by spending that money?

In a lesson of opportunity cost, this infographic explores the missed opportunity inherent in a daily Starbucks latte over the course of one year.

Data was sourced from Starbucks-menus.com (latte cost) and CNBC (stock returns). Visual Capitalist used Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and Nvidia (NVDA) as examples because they were two of the best performing S&P 500 stocks in 2024.

Source: Visual Capitalist

At $5.74 per cup, a daily Starbucks latte costs $2,095 per year. Had you placed that amount in a high-yield savings account with a 4% return, you’d end up with $2,179 after one year—a modest $84 gain.

Larger gains could be realized if this money had been invested in equities. In 2024, the S&P 500 grew by 24.2%, while top-performing companies like Nvidia grew by 171.2%. However, it’s important to remember that equity returns fluctuate significantly from year to year, and they aren’t always positive.

This example overlooks the intrinsic value of a latte like the comfort, routine, or small joy it brings to daily life—all things that perhaps can’t be measured in dollars.