A certain amount of money brings happiness, and more than that, perhaps more troubles.
As Denzel Washington is reported to have once said, “Money doesn’t buy happiness. Some people say it’s a heck of a down payment, though.” And many experts agree he’s right.
A recent report on CNN looked at the issue of personal wealth and how it relates to your happiness in depth. It came to some interesting conclusions. It turns out that, surprise surprise, research shows people who define their personal success in terms of how much money they have tend to be less happy than average. In addition, the more money you earn, the less “happiness value” each additional dollar adds to your life.
Here’s a bit more about how money relates to happiness, as discovered by researchers over the years.
There’s an optimal amount across the world
Many of us may think that winning millions of dollars in the local lottery would bring endless amounts of happiness. A study done in 2018 by psychologists at the University of Purdue disputes this, however.
Researchers found there are two income amounts to keep in mind. The ideal income for “life evaluation”, at least at the time of the study, was $95,000 a year for individuals. For emotional well-being, this dipped to $75,000 annually. Both of these amounts would, of course, be higher for families.
What is “life evaluation”? It’s something that involves how satisfied you are in life and how you see yourself as doing, overall.
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This factor is said to likely be influenced by how you compare yourself to others. Emotional well being is about how you feel day-to-day, (ie, happy, sad, angry).
The study was based on data obtained from the Gallup World Poll which surveyed 1.7 million people from 164 countries. Questions were based on average purchasing power in each region.
Interestingly, researchers also found that, once a person reached the thresholds detailed above, making more money was generally correlated with a lower level of well-being and reduced life satisfaction. Researchers conjectured that, once you meet your basic needs, you can buy what you want, and your loans are repaid, you’re driven to make more money by other factors. This may often be material gain and comparing your success to others. This, in turn, can lead to a lower sense of well-being.
Some say it all depends on your neighbors
And then there are some who say, making more money only makes you happy if you actually earn more than your neighbors. In essence, it only works if your extra funds improve your social ranking. Surely there are those who would contest this, but it’s an interesting thought.
Others have found respect matters more than money when it comes to how happy you are. There’s also proof out there that, if you use your money to buy free time– such as hiring someone to clean your home-you could get more satisfaction out of life. Of course, this may depend on how picky you are about your cleaning.
So, what should you do? Earn the right amount of income, try not to compare yourself to others, live in a neighborhood that isn’t above your means, and hire a maid once in a while. The doctor says it’s good for you.
photo credits: Flena_13/Shutterstock.com
