Orbit
I'm a planet
Science says so: The More Money You Earn The Happier You Are, Large Study Finds
75K is the sweet spot for life satisfaction
75K is the sweet spot for life satisfaction
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You can buy happiness
- Thread starter Orbit
- Start date
That's about right I would think. Making about 5000 a month has been a blessing.
Keeps me right around 70k a year.
That information seems reasonable to me. That number may change over the years, but I believe the concept is pretty solid.
I wonder if that amount must be maintained or if its only required that someone make that level of success for a brief period?. What if five years of success are all it takes for someone to be happy ever after, and then they can live at a lower income level and still be happy?
joe1776
Well-Known Member
The article's title is deceiving. It implies that there is a direct correlation. Not true.
At $75K, in today's economy, one can live well enough. That's not surprising.
I think this would depend on ones ability to save and keep money aside for later usage.
The biggest boon, is having a buffer for emergencies. Most Americans are 1~2 emergencies from legal Bankruptcy.
Yeah, who would've thought that having money to pay rent, bills, and have some left over would make someone happy? So surprising. I wonder how much money they wasted on this study of the obvious. Unfortunately, it's only getting harder and harder to have that sort of income, if you were lucky enough to ever earn that much in the first place.
Maybe that's my key to making that sort of money - just make up an excuse to do a study on something really common sense and rake in the money telling people what they already know.
I thought I saw a post or OP about people earning $450K being happiest. Maybe $450K and up.
Audie
Veteran Member
That ain't enough for Hong Kong
Orbit
I'm a planet
Sure, but 75K is where happiness begins, according to the chart in the article
Viker
Your beloved eccentric Auntie Cristal
Not enough? Really? What would be enough?
Heyo
Veteran Member
The study dealt with US participants only. I guess it would be lower in countries with a working social net. Not living in fear of total bankruptcy or devastating illness will increase the life satisfaction index.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
Money can’t buy happiness. You only have to look at the miserable lives of the rich and famous, to recognise that. However, poverty can cause even more unhappiness than the pursuit of wealth.
Or San Francisco.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
There is that mentality you can't buy happiness. Bull**** I say. I moved out of Indiana, got out of poverty, amd it's great to be able to just pay the bills even if it's not pay day, and even better not having to wait for your next paycheck just to have more money to have no money again.Yeah, who would've thought that having money to pay rent, bills, and have some left over would make someone happy? So surprising. I wonder how much money they wasted on this study of the obvious. Unfortunately, it's only getting harder and harder to have that sort of income, if you were lucky enough to ever earn that much in the first place.
Maybe that's my key to making that sort of money - just make up an excuse to do a study on something really common sense and rake in the money telling people what they already know.
People who believe that have either struggled or have never even tasted how much better life with even just enough money to have comfortably enough.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
It wasn't cited, and highly doubtful given few people make that much and we see a thresh hold that is much lower, and beyond that it doesn't make much a difference.
Despite the claims of Capitalism most people just aren't driven or motivated by money. We're motivated to have enough, basically more or less like humans have always been. We love and appreciate recieving an especially bountiful harvest, but we're just as happy and content with an average harvest harvest that will provide enough to meet our needs until the next harvest. We don't, as a species, need more than what we need. And too much I would wager most people really wouldn't want because, throughout our evolution, having too much is having more that can be used, and if we can't get rid of it it goes to waist. Getting rid of it, especially in large quantities, is still a fairly new thing for us.
Heyo
Veteran Member
After having your basic needs met (food, water, shelter), you aim for security, security in stored goods if something goes wrong. In a natural environment your ability to store is limited by space and the shelf life of the stored goods.
Once you have money, you can store infinite amounts. There is no natural limit. Some people can reason that a certain amount is enough but there seems to be no natural satiation for safety in humans. So the urge to store money never ends. And when you can get more money with ever less effort, money becomes a fetish. (See Karl Marx, Das Kapital: The fetish character of money.)
I might believe this study, given it was about the USA, but weren't the previous studies about places elsewhere? Can't recall them.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
Would you rather be a high earner in Indiana, or struggling to get by in California?
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
But, in regards to happiness, science has not found it to make much a difference beyond about $75,000/year.
And you have to realize, storing/saving money can't really happen if you don't make enough. You try, but this and that keeps eating it away. But when you have plenty of money, it is significantly easier to put it back. What else are you going to do with it? You have enough and more than you need.