Money can help but I think what really brings happiness is how your loved ones are doing in life. If people, especially your children, are having a tough time, then for me, I am not happy. They are always on my mind. I share their victories and defeats as if they are my own.
If you come from comfortable money, it bestows notions of entitlement, if you come from nothing, it may buy the comfort & relief rather than happiness, that’s the continuum.
I dont think money necessarily buys happiness, but it definitely helps me avoud things I don’tlike- I can choose who to work with and where to spend my time, and avoid the assholes haha
No. Money itself won’t do anything for us. Happiness from money all depends on how it is spent to change the quality of life. In other words, wisdom with money buys happiness. Otherwise, retirees are just a bunch of brats with lots of money. And we all know what will happen to the kids who choose short-term pleasure.
Money buys security and life satisfaction, more than happiness. Happiness kind of tops out once you have enough to care for yourself and your family. Satisfaction comes from being able to do things for them and your community.
I don’t believe you can be happy without a base level of money. I am not saying you need millions, but I believe that you need to feel secure about your ability to procure housing, healthcare and food. Without that base level of money or income, I believe most will focus and stress about their financial situation.
Beyond feeling secure about these basic needs, I don’t think that money buys happiness. Most of the folks I know who have a ton of money are working non-stop, out of shape and very stressed.
A lot of people tend to respond carefully to this question. Understandable. However, I think the pertinence of the question is lost or possibly misinterpreted by doing so. Yes, money is a means, and yes, money itself is not happiness. But many of the responses mention what can happen when we spend money, and how those experiences and things are what actually make us happy. I agree 100%. Therefore, without regard to the what-ifs-and-or-buts of peripheral issues, I think the answer must be an absolute yes. Is money the only thing that can buy happiness? Of course not. But to any of us that have felt the joy of donating to charity, sending our kids to college, or just enjoying that new car smell, answering “no” to this question doesn’t seem right.
I agree, YES, money buys happiness. But in reasonable amounts. I’m not so sure about YES in cases of big changes, as when a person inherits a big sum. Something else: people who live well with their money–earn some, spend some, save and invest–and do this over decades, learn how to use money to buy lasting, significant happiness. Using money to buy happiness is an acquired skill, I think.
Money enables control over one’s environment. We first use it to reduce risk. More money becomes a tool to pursue happiness or misery. We are complicated and experts at self-deception. Thus Solomon, when offered all the riches of the world instead chose knowledge (the raw material) and wisdom (its proper application). The wise and the foolish working with the same information simply apply it differently.
Happiness is such a personal thing. Like most have said, money can buy happiness to a point. Not worrying about money issues like a flat tire or a broken appliance brings about a happiness for me as there was a point in life that a flat tire meant I couldn’t pay for car insurance.
I’ve seen up close that the lack of money brings great fear and anxiety. So Think money can certainly buy peace of mind. Money can buy a certain level of happiness, but it’s too easy to get get caught up in the hedonic treadmill. More stuff does not buy happiness, just more stuff.
A long time ago I realized that money doesn’t buy happiness. Instead does buy protection against one form of unhappiness. Namely, always miserably struggling to survive. You can be wealthy and still miserable, and relatively poor and quite happy.
If you have enough to take care of yourself and those you love with good health, good food, and comfortable shelter you can choose to be happy with that or anything more that your money can buy. But if the “anything more” becomes “more than you can afford” you will get in trouble. Often those in this situation think they only need to win a lottery and then they will be happy are much more likely than not to find that huge sums of money gained suddenly are not an answer to unhappiness, but source of many new and unfamiliar problems and sources of unhappiness.
I think the biggest effect is paying off unhappiness. I no longer worry about the immediate bills, and if there is enough to make it to payday. I can hire someone to mow the lawn instead of spending 3 hours on it myself. I no longer balance and reconcile the checkbook because it never gets down to the last dollar – it used to! There is so much less stress and worry that I can actually pay attention to the good things in life.
It absolutely can, although as other commenters have noted, money on its own does not guarantee happiness. Life satisfaction is correlated with income both across and within countries. These are only correlational findings, but they suggest that the money-happiness link is real.
This is the most insightful paper I’ve read on the relationship between money and happiness. The authors note that although the money-happiness relationship has empirically been found to be weak, that may simply be because most people do not know how to use their money effectively. The authors offer eight concrete recommendations on how to use money most effectively to promote happiness:
Buy more experiences and fewer material goods
Use money to benefit others and not yourself
Buy many small pleasures rather than fewer large ones
Eschew extended warranties and other forms of overpriced insurance
Delay consumption
Consider how peripheral features of purchases may affect your day-to-day life
Beware of comparison shopping
Pay close attention to the happiness of others
And those old studies that suggested that winning the lottery doesn’t make people happier? It turns out they are likely bogus. Winning the lottery probably does make most people happier.
Money helps. Paying people to do tasks you don’t enjoy or take away from time with family – like lawn care or shopping – likely improves happiness. But there’s more here. One cannot simply automate or delegate everything in life. We must always work to cultivate relationships and feel a purpose in society. Money won’t address those issues in full.
Like everything, happiness is a continuum – maintain and build relationships and purpose using money as a tool to farm out stuff you hate doing.
Another aspect is finding what you really enjoy and spend a little extra money there if possible.
Perhaps a third point is reducing risk through money – paying up for a little more insurance coverage or a higher-quality car can prevent potentially costly and harmful accidents and car trouble (as one example).
My own family’s experience closely mirrors the conventional wisdom: Where we’ve been able to use money to buy experiences, it has brought happiness. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that we weren’t buying experiences; we were investing in experiences.
That’s like asking, “Does a hammer build a house?” Money is a tool. When used correctly and in the proper measure, money allows for more choices which can lead to more options to happiness. There is also the danger of using the tool too much. There is such a thing as tyranny of choice, where the plethora of options causes angst and worry (not to mention the fear of losing all one has acquired). An oft-quoted highpoint of money/happiness correlation is an income of $75,000 a year: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.html
Money can help but I think what really brings happiness is how your loved ones are doing in life. If people, especially your children, are having a tough time, then for me, I am not happy. They are always on my mind. I share their victories and defeats as if they are my own.
If you come from comfortable money, it bestows notions of entitlement, if you come from nothing, it may buy the comfort & relief rather than happiness, that’s the continuum.
NO, just things that will maybe make you temporarily happy
Doesn’t buy happiness but can set the stage for opportunities to create it!
I dont think money necessarily buys happiness, but it definitely helps me avoud things I don’tlike- I can choose who to work with and where to spend my time, and avoid the assholes haha
No. Money itself won’t do anything for us. Happiness from money all depends on how it is spent to change the quality of life. In other words, wisdom with money buys happiness. Otherwise, retirees are just a bunch of brats with lots of money. And we all know what will happen to the kids who choose short-term pleasure.
I like the old line, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it makes for a nice down payment.”
At some level, money is at least part of what makes us happy in this life.
Money can buy misery if you haven’t worked out how much is enough.
Money buys security and life satisfaction, more than happiness. Happiness kind of tops out once you have enough to care for yourself and your family. Satisfaction comes from being able to do things for them and your community.
I don’t believe you can be happy without a base level of money. I am not saying you need millions, but I believe that you need to feel secure about your ability to procure housing, healthcare and food. Without that base level of money or income, I believe most will focus and stress about their financial situation.
Beyond feeling secure about these basic needs, I don’t think that money buys happiness. Most of the folks I know who have a ton of money are working non-stop, out of shape and very stressed.
A lot of people tend to respond carefully to this question. Understandable. However, I think the pertinence of the question is lost or possibly misinterpreted by doing so. Yes, money is a means, and yes, money itself is not happiness. But many of the responses mention what can happen when we spend money, and how those experiences and things are what actually make us happy. I agree 100%. Therefore, without regard to the what-ifs-and-or-buts of peripheral issues, I think the answer must be an absolute yes.
Is money the only thing that can buy happiness? Of course not.
But to any of us that have felt the joy of donating to charity, sending our kids to college, or just enjoying that new car smell, answering “no” to this question doesn’t seem right.
I agree, YES, money buys happiness. But in reasonable amounts. I’m not so sure about YES in cases of big changes, as when a person inherits a big sum. Something else: people who live well with their money–earn some, spend some, save and invest–and do this over decades, learn how to use money to buy lasting, significant happiness. Using money to buy happiness is an acquired skill, I think.
No.
Money enables control over one’s environment. We first use it to reduce risk. More money becomes a tool to pursue happiness or misery. We are complicated and experts at self-deception. Thus Solomon, when offered all the riches of the world instead chose knowledge (the raw material) and wisdom (its proper application). The wise and the foolish working with the same information simply apply it differently.
Money makes life easier. But if you don’t have your health. Money doesn’t matter. It didn’t do Steve Jobs or Glenn Frey any good.
Not really, it buys peace of mind and tranquility. It can also help meet especial wants subject to the law of diminishing returns.
Happiness is such a personal thing. Like most have said, money can buy happiness to a point. Not worrying about money issues like a flat tire or a broken appliance brings about a happiness for me as there was a point in life that a flat tire meant I couldn’t pay for car insurance.
Money buys freedom to do more and give more, they can translate to happiness.
I’ve seen up close that the lack of money brings great fear and anxiety. So Think money can certainly buy peace of mind. Money can buy a certain level of happiness, but it’s too easy to get get caught up in the hedonic treadmill. More stuff does not buy happiness, just more stuff.
A long time ago I realized that money doesn’t buy happiness. Instead does buy protection against one form of unhappiness. Namely, always miserably struggling to survive. You can be wealthy and still miserable, and relatively poor and quite happy.
If you have enough to take care of yourself and those you love with good health, good food, and comfortable shelter you can choose to be happy with that or anything more that your money can buy. But if the “anything more” becomes “more than you can afford” you will get in trouble. Often those in this situation think they only need to win a lottery and then they will be happy are much more likely than not to find that huge sums of money gained suddenly are not an answer to unhappiness, but source of many new and unfamiliar problems and sources of unhappiness.
So no, money does not buy happiness.
I think the biggest effect is paying off unhappiness. I no longer worry about the immediate bills, and if there is enough to make it to payday. I can hire someone to mow the lawn instead of spending 3 hours on it myself. I no longer balance and reconcile the checkbook because it never gets down to the last dollar – it used to! There is so much less stress and worry that I can actually pay attention to the good things in life.
PS
It absolutely can, although as other commenters have noted, money on its own does not guarantee happiness. Life satisfaction is correlated with income both across and within countries. These are only correlational findings, but they suggest that the money-happiness link is real.
This is the most insightful paper I’ve read on the relationship between money and happiness. The authors note that although the money-happiness relationship has empirically been found to be weak, that may simply be because most people do not know how to use their money effectively. The authors offer eight concrete recommendations on how to use money most effectively to promote happiness:
And those old studies that suggested that winning the lottery doesn’t make people happier? It turns out they are likely bogus. Winning the lottery probably does make most people happier.
Money helps. Paying people to do tasks you don’t enjoy or take away from time with family – like lawn care or shopping – likely improves happiness. But there’s more here. One cannot simply automate or delegate everything in life. We must always work to cultivate relationships and feel a purpose in society. Money won’t address those issues in full.
Like everything, happiness is a continuum – maintain and build relationships and purpose using money as a tool to farm out stuff you hate doing.
Another aspect is finding what you really enjoy and spend a little extra money there if possible.
Perhaps a third point is reducing risk through money – paying up for a little more insurance coverage or a higher-quality car can prevent potentially costly and harmful accidents and car trouble (as one example).
My own family’s experience closely mirrors the conventional wisdom: Where we’ve been able to use money to buy experiences, it has brought happiness. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that we weren’t buying experiences; we were investing in experiences.
That’s like asking, “Does a hammer build a house?” Money is a tool. When used correctly and in the proper measure, money allows for more choices which can lead to more options to happiness. There is also the danger of using the tool too much. There is such a thing as tyranny of choice, where the plethora of options causes angst and worry (not to mention the fear of losing all one has acquired). An oft-quoted highpoint of money/happiness correlation is an income of $75,000 a year: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.html