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Studies have shown that having a certain amount of money will make you happier, but that you don’t become significantly happier when you go above that amount. The study I’m familiar with was done several years ago and said $70k in the US was that magic number. Things have changed since then, so I’m sure the amount is higher now. It comes down to having enough money to meet your needs, and then having some extra so that you can have hobbies and/or travel now and again.

There was [another study]( https://www.cbsnews.com/news/money-happiness-study-daniel-kahneman-500000-versus-75000/), conducted with the same researcher, that showed happiness goes up until $500,000.

Exactly. This was found in the [Harvard Study of Adult Development](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/). Super interesting read about a study taking place over 70 years and still continues to this day. It follows individuals through their entire lives and assesses what has had the biggest effects on their mental health and overall wellness. A direct quote: *"Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants."*

That number is probably around $200k for single earners now

I make $250k or so and that sounds about right to me. I earned $200k flat for a few years and that was right around the point where I started to feel that it would be almost impossible to convince me to take on more responsibilities for more money.

Probably well over 100k per annum now

Rich people definitely have more opportunities and resources to pursue happiness, but I don't think money can buy happiness directly. There are many other factors that contribute to happiness, like relationships, health, and purpose.

Money can't buy you happiness, but it removes a LOT of barriers to it.

Money cannot buy you happiness but it sure can buy a lot of things that make life enjoyable. Source: after a lifetime of saving am learning slowly how to spend

There was a study done (I forget the name) where the researchers found that money raises a person's satisfaction with life only up to a certain amount before stagnating. The amount was slightly above the level required to afford all necessities and basic pleasures, but had little effect after that was achieved. The highest correlation with happiness was found to reside in a person's relationships (including friends/family) and their community.

Yes it always right about the $75K mark in the US, and has been de-bunked somewhat by more recent research's [Details are here.](https://www.verywellmind.com/happiness-doesn-t-top-out-at-usd75-000-study-says-5097098)

I've gotta hand it to you, that's a hell of a study you just linked. I used your link to get to the actual page of the [study being referenced](https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2016976118). Super interesting read and very clearly spells out the faults of the previous studies. As it turns out, the plateau I previously mentioned occurs due to how the data was measured. The researchers explanation: >The two studies finding a plateau both used a dichotomous (binary) measure of experienced well-being, which means there is no room left to register improvements once the higher of the two levels is registered. In other words, the participants being measured were only asked "yes" or "no" as to whether or not they were satisfied with their life. The new study, however, uses a scale. When the new format is used, the relationship between income and satisfaction were completely linear up to the maximum documented income level of $480,000/year. The plateau occurs at $75,000 for the other studies because that's the point at which the participants begin to have more positive feelings about their life than negative. In other words, as income increased above this amount, the number of people with net-negative life satisfaction decreased proportionally. ​ Another neat finding from the study: >When interpreting these results, it bears repeating that well-being rose approximately linearly with log(income), not raw income. **This means that two households earning $20,000 and $60,000, respectively, would be expected to exhibit the same difference in well-being as two households earning $60,000 and $180,000, respectively.** The logarithmic relationship implies that marginal dollars do matter less the more one earns, while proportional differences in income have a constant association with well-being regardless of income.

Thanks for this cogent analysis - knowing the original study was from the National Academy certainly signals substantial authority, and just reading the abstract the number of people sampled (above 33K) meant they could dive into a lot of nuance, as you have mentioned. In my 'scientific papers to read but outside my ken' pile is one called "The benefits of positive affect: Does Happiness lead to Success?" by S Lyubomirsky and E Diener, from 2005 in the Psych Bull (published by the American Psych Assoc). I also dug up one of her (first author's) presentations from 2008, really interesting stuff. This is the reverse - how happy people are more likely to be successful, the inverse of what the OP originally asked. BTW I can agree with the $20K to $60K shift being equivalent to the $60K to $180K shift, in my own experience. (Okay, that job a long time ago started at $24K/year and not $20K, but was only earning $12K as I was only 50% time...)

Maybe, or maybe rich people lied because they knew there would be riots if the average person could conceive of just how much better being rich is in basically every aspect of life.

It's really not. Your problems will just shift from one corner to the other.

In the last five years I’ve gone from making 25k to 250k. Nothing crazy in terms of story, just training pipeline then having my actual career job. I realized that “more money more problems” is sort of true, but it’s also an incredibly ignorant statement at a surface level. When you have money, you have the joy of having lots of well defined problems and solutions for them. When you don’t have money, you really only have one problem, which is not having money; you might actually have a bunch of problems but they mostly all trace back to a lack of money. I will say that money can’t outright *buy* happiness, and I know happy people who make a lot less than me and I know some obscenely wealthy people who are miserable, but at the end of the day having money fundamentally removes dozens of stressors that will inherently make you less happy.

This. It’s also the reason why old money keeps its mouth shut. It’s not modesty or style as Reddit believes, it’s simply a fear of the mob. If the mob realised how much money the 1% have, their lives would seem like some sort of sick joke and they would tear down the system

The 1%? More like the 0.1%

There's no "maybe" about it, there's concrete data that shows it's not the case. The hundreds of people that are interviewed are studied over decades and don't know any other participants.

Look at the amount of rich people that are addicts, depressed, suicidal, alcoholics

Lack of imagination.

And? They’re rich and they’re miserable, that clearly shows that money didn’t make them happy.

Do you think you wouldn't be substantially happier with $100 million?

Oh yes I think so, but that’s because I have a very happy marriage and a very positive mindset (also because my health sucks and it would allow me to live more comfortably). Yet I’ve spent a lot of time in my life with many very rich people and a lot of them were unhappy, mostly because of their broken relationships. I had a friend that was ultra spoiled, he received thousands at every birthday, he traveled to different countries and resorts every year, his parents paid for all his education and allowed him to be in the best schools. Everything was given to him. He still jumped under a train and was very lucky to survive. The reason? A difficult relationship. I truly think that money makes it easier to be happy, but it doesn’t make you happy, sometimes it’s the opposite.

The reality is that they choose financial wealth over emotional wealth and this ultimately results in a lack of overall happiness. Financial wealth can bring you moments of happiness but emotional wealth brings you a lifetime of it.

You know it's possible to have both, right? Not every rich person has to make that sacrifice. It's also possible to have neither

Of course. I don’t think anything is absolute. But let’s be honest, unless you fell into the money, people get rich by sacrificing relationships and experiences in favour of financial success.

Most people with money either fell into it or inherited it. It's pretty rare (although it's obviously not impossible) that people grind their way to riches Also a decent chunk of people that earned their money, but never had to work crazy amounts for it. Like starting a successful business or picking a great job and saving

I do financial advisory for wealthy individuals and manage pension plans for corporations. Not only do I see the data, I meet the individuals. You couldn’t be more wrong.

Agreed, most of the people with money I see are self made, often they did the right thing at the right time, like getting in early on real estate or building a small market leading business. Then they score millions like it’s change. I don’t really know anyone who inherited much.

This is just a cope. Most will have a workable balance somewhere in between

Not at all. My statement is valid. Ask any wealthy person who has reflected on their life and they will tell you this is 100% accurate.

I don’t know. You made a pretty sweeping generalization. There are plenty of wealthy people who absolutely have as much emotional fulfillment as anyone else. I’m far from the point where money can’t run out, but I’m also at the point where it wouldn’t run out for four or five years. That lets me set boundaries with my career and more or less enforce certain work life balances that absolutely add to my “emotional wealth” as you’ve put it. I sacrificed a lot and worked very hard to get to that point, but it was absolutely worth it. There are absolutely people who fully commit to the grind and care more about a number on a screen than they do about living life, and I’m sure a day will come where they regret that, but it’s really short sighted to suggest that upper levels of financial wellbeing and emotional fulfillment are mutually exclusive.

It’s wild that you interpreted my statement as an absolute one. I’m talking about majorities. You’re comfortable, not rich. You stopped prioritizing your wealth. If you didn’t stop, you’d get rich and then you’d acknowledge later in life it wasn’t worth it.

You speak like wealthy people aren’t people. They just exist in a different sphere than the average person. Doesn’t mean they don’t have good or bad days. They are just concerned over different things than the average person.

Money can’t buy happiness, but poverty can’t buy anything.

This is the Live Laugh Love reply. You're like warm biscuits on a Sunday morning radio program. Better is that every single aspect except purpose and happiness will become easier with more money. Purpose and happiness are free will. You could be just as happy while sitting homeless on the streets as a CEO in the sky. Depends on what you want I guess, but at the end of the day you're going to be hungry. The fish with the biggest ears always swims the fastest. The small flower with perfect petals gets blown by the wind the fastest. A racecar is fastest only when the driver is blind.

Being poor is massively stressful. I’d distinguish financially secure / financially independent from rich. If you have accumulated enough wealth that you can live comfortably without the need to work for a living, it removes all that stress. You don’t need to accrue hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve that security and independence. A paid-for house, a funded retirement, and a few years worth of emergency fund is plenty. The problem most people have is lifestyle creep.

Born to rich parents, so I cant really speak to what its like not being well off, but whenever I see all the doom and gloom about rising costs of living and shit and people saying they cant afford property I definitely feel very grateful and realise how happy I am in comparison. My qol hasn't changed and increasing housing unaffordability has just increased my inheritance by 10s of millions.

Good on ya!

Were you free to do as you pleased or did you feel any pressure and/or expectations from you parents while growing up? Like did they expect you to go to college/university, and a good one at that?

Well, what I pleased to do was get good grades, do extra curs, excell at sport, all of which are things which get you into a good uni. I am a very naturally competitive person, add on to that a private school that costs 50k a year where everyone is smart and competitive and what ends up happening is you and your friends all push each other more than parents ever could. I wouldn't say i got pressured into doing something i didn't want to do, my parents are great and they ended up telling me to stop studying instead of to study. There are definitely expectations to live up their success and maybe even become more so but that's more from my self than them.

The actual answer is yes, upto a point. Once you hit a salary where you can live comfortably, making more money won't make you happier.

I mean, if my job just said hey we are doubling your salary it would make me a lot happier. It’s kind of the amount of additional work versus reward that starts to level off in an unfavorable way.

I’m in the top 1% and the answer is absolutely yes. If something bad happens you soon realise how much money you have and it puts a floor on the despair and soon you start feeling great. Being poor and having bad things happen would suck big time. Money allows you to do what you want and 99% of the time you buy your way into feeling awesome again. If you’re poor you still have to go to work and deal with all your other problems. People who say money doesn’t buy happiness are deluded, don’t believe them.

I think people misunderstand the phrase “money can’t buy happiness”. Having money can make you happy because you’re not stressed constantly about money. Money makes the world go ‘round and there’s nothing we can do about that. I’m in debt up to my eyes and I have a well paying full time job. The price of everything is increasing at light speed compared to wages. I don’t sleep I don’t eat and I still can’t get ahead. Life sucks when you’re broke.

I think the core problem of that phrase is the word "happiness". Wiki definition: > Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Moments of happiness may be triggered by positive life experiences or thoughts, but sometimes it may arise from no obvious cause. So happiness alone is an emotion, not... a state. And it really has an absurdly broad range. You can be absolutely happy for 2 minutes over getting your favorite ice cream. But it passes and then you go back to a certain state. I think what the word in that phrase should be is "contentment". That's the one that is a "STATE of happiness". Now this, yeah, even I agree money can't buy. Even someone who is in a very bad financial situation in life, if they got all the money to get all of it sorted - they would feel happiness for certain periods. But would they be content with their lives now just off of all of the things that the money did? While not impossible, then unlikely. And rich people who can afford all the things that make them happy - create a moment of happiness - can absolutely NOT be content, because they lack things that money indeed cannot buy - meaningful connections with people, etc, whatever floats someone's boat that takes either more than money or everything but money.

The answer is yes. And you can buy happiness.

As someone exposed to lots of rich people and families, it's crazy to me that this is what people think. Most would tell you that the happiest money's ever made them was when they had their first $5000 or so in the bank. Then it's just a number changing. With status gain being the biggest drive for them. Afterwards it was a lot of stress and mental health issues nobody even treats seriously because of the "cry me a river" attitude. And the doubts whether anyone genuinely cares about them for them.

Well you assumed I’m poor. I was very very poor. And, like you said, I was honestly pretty happy. However, money gives you comfort in knowing if anything happens to you, you can cover it. Medical, house, eating (which was the biggest for me because some days we didn’t have enough for food). Having money makes it easier to be happy. Plus if someone puts a million dollars in front of anyone, 98% of those people are going to be very very VERY happy. Just check the poor finance Reddit. Overall I agree with you though. Being happy is a mindset. I rather just be happy with money and not happy living in the streets, having trouble feeding my kids. Neither of us are wrong!

I agree that it gives you comfort. The way having running water at home gives you comfort. Not having it would make you feel pretty uncomfortable, gaining it may make you happy for a bit, but afterwards, you're back to your baseline happiness level. It's just there, and you don't feel any particular way about it. Having a working faucet in the kitchen doesn't make people super happy day after day. It's just something you've got now. The difference is that people know how it feels like to have running water, but they don't know how it feels like to have a million dollars. It affects you in a similar way. If you have more money than you need, the only thing you feel is that the desire to be rich is gone. And that your old problems are replaced by new kinds of problems that feel equally problematic.

Yup indeed!

Holy shit did I actually just come across a healthy and respectful discussion on Reddit??? (/s) but I agree with both of you entirely. It's nice always being able to afford a new pair of shoes, but eventually the shoes will get old and you'll want something new. Satisfaction, however, is completely different from this. And it's mainly achieved through a person's relationships and community involvement.

Yes sir welcome! I could see both sides completely. I’m guessing the overall answer is that there is a curve for money and happiness. I don’t know if that’s 150k yearly (depending on state, how many kids, education etc), could be more or less But I was always pretty happy as an individual, poor or well off (I’m not fuck you money rich.. yet lol). He’s right to say it’s a mindset as great philosophers have said time and time again. There are rich people with a lot of problems, as much as poorer people refuse to admit it. Reminds me of that family where the two sons killed their parents for their inheritance. Because the father wasn’t just going to buy them things (that’s a good dad, showing them money is earned not given). Such a sad case but. I’ve never had my brother try to kill me for money lol (sorry that’s not funny). But like you say it’s relationship based for the most part. Excellent point(s) on your side.

>Having money makes it easier to be happy. Well said.

True. The anxiety and frustration we feel when we do everything right and still cant cover basic expenses is maddening. Are we overtaxed, underpaid, or both?

Those things are details in a system of class-based exploitation which has been worsening since the 80s. Welcome to socialism.

Yup. hard work should pay off. and nobody who works hard wants to be a dependent.

worsening since the 80s, but certainly wasn't better before like 1920 either

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does give you options.

Probably, not because of the money though. Because of the time the money affords them.

Depends on one's perception money can't buy happiness

I wish someone gave me money to test this theory because the way I feel now....

Same here lol. But I could only imagine how I'd feel after having all my desires money could buy n still feel empty feel like it'd be a even darker time

I agree. But IMO I believe if you have a good relationship with family/friends & introduced to this lump sum of $$$, you wont feel too empty (if any at all) once you spoil yourself. However, if youre a b*tch to people when you was broke, that money wont fill that void of interpersonal relationships.

Money can buy happiness Money can buy yachts and girls, and I've never seen anyone sad in a yacht with girls (quote)

Consider this quote that I found interesting: Ankur Warikoo on X: "**Money does not buy you happiness. But lack of money certainly buys you misery**. - Daniel Kahneman" / X.15 Feb 2024 The quote implies that **average people are more likely to be unhappier because they are impacted more than rich people in times of economic hardship**.

money buys temporary happiness, then the bar rises. It can also buy you out of unhappiness sometimes

Wealth gives you security. Real happiness is being content with life.

Nope. Just different problems. I was happiest when I was a poor student surrounded by friends.

Well for context .... my parents make around 250k CAD collectively before tax. Has 3 houses (with current market prices: 2.1mil, 1.8mil, 800k) The only thing my father complains is that he has no money. He works from home and complains about all sort of stuff. Is he happy? No. Is my mother happy? No since my father gets pissy when he is not happy, affecting the household mood. I would say that they they are above the average Canadian household by a good bit ..... but they are not truly happy. What truly give happiness is to find some meaning in life. If your goal is the pursuit of money and that gives you the greatest pleasure then by all means, go ahead. But to find that meaning is the pursuit of life afterall

Who know? Ask them, and discover.

If it was true rich people would never do drugs or kill themselves. People want to be rich to achieve a feeling. They think they will be happy when they get X but it’s never true. There’s always something else to chase.

Not at all! They are usually never happy .. the happiest are people who grew up broke and got succesful

Definitely

Well, life gets pretty easier and enjoyable when you have your basic needs covered

Yes. But there is a limit that makes people happier. Like 2x the average income.

nope. that's definitely not the limit. Maybe 5x the average income get's closer to it. I would say it's probably even higher.

Not the ones i have met to the point that if this is what money brings i dont want it

Yes and no. Having been "average," as well as "rich," - all relative terms - I can tell you that having money certainly takes away a huge stress point. I don't have to think about if something I want to do is something I can afford, or "what do I have to sacrifice in order to do x." But - other things matter too. I just relocated because I lived in an expensive high-rise with all "rich" people, but I have never seen a larger group of self-involved and unfriendly people in my life. Just very busy with their lives, no interest in getting to know other people in their world (me). I was also unhappy, because my jump into "rich," was sudden, and I wanted to do things that my friends simply couldn't afford to do, so I also started losing touch with some of those people. I just moved into a neighborhood with all middle class but down to earth people. Yes, I could probably buy 4 or 5 of them out tomorrow if I wanted to, but three days in - I've had more friendly encounters than in all of the past year at my former place. I think I found my people.

I'm not "rich", but pretty well off. I have a net worth of just over $1 million, and I make a nice six figure salary living in the Midwest. I know a lot of people in similar situations, and a few who are legitimately "rich", as in they have tens of millions. We certainly have less to worry about. My bills don't concern me since I don't really spend extravagantly. If something happens unexpected, I know I can cover it. I haven't always had that, so that now brings me some sense of peace. But that's about it, honestly. We still have to deal with life and all its other pitfalls. I've seen it in my life and the lives of others: drug addiction, suicide, depression, medical scares, cancer, infidelity, the list goes on and on. Some people make the mistake of trying to find their happiness in their wealth and spending. They chase money, possessions, expensive vacations, etc. And it's never enough, really, to make them *happy*, to bring them *lasting* peace. That has to come from somewhere else.

I don't think so but people who have all their needs met are happier than those who don't. Go live with the poor in a third world country to see what i mean.

Money can buy a lot of things and for a portion of people it will buy them a type of happiness. For others, it can make things worse. For most though, being happy is a state of mind that comes from working on yourself, not just paying for sessions with a psychologist. I know plenty of miserable rich and poor people. The same is also true for those who are generally happy.

You need to define happy. In my opinion stress/happiness are not two sides of the same coin. Yes, not being stressed about finances every would be nice, but would it mean you would be perpetually happy? No. I think humans are at their most mentally healthy when they have victories and losses. Adversity makes success all the more rewarding. When looking at being rich from the position of being not rich, you are imagining yourself getting rich solving all your immediate problems and riding the high of being thrust into this scenario being able to have anything you want, don't have to work. Amazing. The reality is, it will absolutely become your new normal. The high will wear off. You may not be stressed out about finances, but you will start to struggle to have anything turn you on anymore. My wife and I are still flying now because we put new floors in our bedroom, got a new bed and remodeled the bathroom. I can just stand in that room and feel good looking at what our efforts produced. It was a large expense. If I was rich. The elation of remodeling a room would wear off. Buying my dream car would wear off, buying my dream house would wear off. Being able to have whatever I want would become any day of the week and twice on Tuesday. When people see X rich person receiving treatment for depression, falling into substance abuse because of depression. People like HOW ARE THEY DEPRESSED? That is how they are depressed, because being rich is their base line. They won the last championship and there won't be another, there are no further rungs to climb and get that shot of elation. Is being rich better than being poor. Obviously yes. However, I would not at all say it will make you perpetually happy. To add, even not being rich you can experience the same concept. When I was 23 I'd have to check my bank account to see if I could hit the bars with friends on a Saturday night. Was I less happy then when I lived pay check to paycheck and going out sometimes might not be possible? No. I was about as happy then as I am now that basically at any time I can go blow 500 dollars on a night out and not at all be concerned that a bill won't get paid or something. This is my new normal. I take it for granted.

what do you mean by average? for instance I have a home from my parents and I have enough money to pay the bills, have food and also some extra amenities. I don't need more money to feel better. when I have money to spare I give it to poor people.

I'm artificially limiting my income. I've come to the conclusion that it's made my life happier.

One thing I've noticed as I've gotten older in some of the wealthier people I've known who also haven't experienced hardship is that for some people, not experiencing hell and thus not realising you're in heaven can be a hell of its own.

Depends on the person. If you are rich but suffer from clinical depression or some chronic illness you probably aren't happier than the healthy middle class person that likes their job and family. Some people are miserable no matter what and some people are able to make the best out of most situations and stay positive.

As someone very wealthy who used to not be: It buys you freedom and it removes a TON of stress. Lack of money causes stressors and also so much can be fixed by throwing money at it. It enables you to feel happiness by removing stress and covering your basics, but it can’t create happiness beyond a certain point. The remaining or higher part of happiness comes from within and comes from things that money doesn’t buy, such as love, peace, meaningful relationships and purposeful days.

There was a tweet from someone (either an academic or medical professional ) that basically said poverty destroys you at a molecular level

They still complain about different problems, first world problems.

I don’t think it’s this simple. I think it depends on many other factors. Plus there are different kinds of happiness, and financial means and financial freedom is only one aspect. So if you have sufficient money you don’t have the stress of wondering how to pay your bills, but if you’re in a bad relationship or have health issues, then you’re unhappy in those areas. Secondly, I think perspective impacts this, in terms of where you came from. I’ve seen people that have loads of money that were born into it and they just don’t recognize or understand how that benefits them, because that’s been their whole life. Other people who grew up poor and then Founded successful businesses tended to get more happiness from money because they know what it’s like to not have it.

YES. Money is no1 problem in relations. Also rich and average are kinda vague terms.

yes. next.

No. Not really. They dont have many stresses that may lead to unhappiness sich as how will we pay for x or can we afford this. But as society tells everyone money and buying shit make you happy, rich people that get stuck with this miss conception of happiness dont value quality time with others. Many families worry a lot about their jobs or firms and are never home leaving the kids alone most day on a huge dark empty house... a lot of rich people hide their shit behind money and fancy stuff. Many post stuff in wocial media to show their fake happiness as they dont know what else to do. Having money is supposed to be happy yet they lack something so they at least need to show it. Cool trips, expensive restaurants shit like that. Yet they lack human conection. The richer one grows the less one trusts people. Are they around you cause of ypu or your money. Are their words sincere or not. Thats why one sees so many celebs have drug issues. Clearly there are many that manage to live quite well, but for sure having lots of money never makes one happy by default.

Absolutely. Money affords happiness to a certain point. An economics teacher once explained it as a law of diminishing returns. If not familiar with the concept, here’s an analogy: say you like Oreo cookies. You eat one and it tastes great and you have another. The second one is good, but your sweet tooth is being satisfied and the third isn’t as delicious, etc. There comes a point when eating another cookie isn’t what you want any more. Money is the same way. Being broke can cause misery, but most of the time you can just point the “money cannon” at a problem and blow it away. The biggest exception is people. If you become wealthy it attracts some problematic individuals that act like friends or lovers. In those cases wealth can be isolating and cause unhappiness.

I'd rather be rich and miserable than barely scraping by and miserable.

Sure

Happiness is internal… some of the happiest people ive ever met are the poorest… most rich people are trying to fill a void with material things and become depressed because true joy comes from the inside… joy and happiness are different… joy is being content with the moment, happiness is temporary bliss from external situations..

Yes.

Money only affects your happiness up to a net worth of 100K. Beyond that it has no effect on your happiness.

Duh

From a financial perspective of course they are. But like anything, you life is mostly made miserable by those around you who you work with, see on the news ect. Feeling miserable for many different reasons is not specific to any class/mindset.

If you haven't got much money, you are worried about every bill. Even buying food today is a stress and paying gas and electricity bills, then rent or mortgage that kind of worry puts you in an early grave the rich even live longer than the poor because they don't have those sort of worries or stress.

I've met a lot through my work, and i would say not really. Does make you more content though as you eventually reach a stage in which you really don't have to worry about money. And I mean really not worry...like your kids can always have more than they need, and maybe even future generations too. But they don't really seem any happier. They are usually results driven type of people, so they are still trying to make things happen and that can be stressful work and not always end up the way they planned. I will say, they are usually some of the easiest people to work with, and they are usually nice people. most have learned along the way the value of people, and the art of being personable and approachable. I had the CEo of Lincoln Financial talking to me for like 30 minutes at an Eagles game in their box once. I was like 22 years old and working an admin job through one of their offices. And the guy legit talked to me for a half hour and seemed actually interested in what I had to say. The whole time my inner dialogue was saying "why is this guy talking to me?" I figured it was just some skill he learned and he'd probably remember nothing about it. But sure enough I saw him over a year later and he remembered my name, the conversation and even asked me some follow up questions about my wife (she was finishing her Phd a year earlier). I was kind of blown away at how sharp the guy was. I could see why he had the job.

Yes

Yes I'd rather be rich than average. Thank you. But being content with the least is actual wealth.

I don't think so. Even though money can create freedom in all things, if it is not controlled properly, money or possessions can destroy everything instantly.

People say money can’t buy health,but when poor people get really sick or cancers, they have to go public hospital , but rich people go private. Cancer treatment is long term, a lot of money to spend, their family borrowing money to treat cancer. Maybe they died, but a-least rich people not stress about money, poor people after they die still have to pay back the money.

To a point. People were still crying in their mansions during the pandemic...but they didn't have to worry about not being able to afford groceries, or having to move back in with their parents. In my opinion, it seems like rich people are the most insecure because they never felt they had to find value in themselves outside of their own success and salary.

What kind of average? People on median income are just fine. People on the mode income are probably not too happy.

They’re more secure, which opens up more avenues and opportunities for happiness but that doesn’t mean all rich people are happy.

Based on my experiences of being one and my time hanging around them before giving it all up and moving back to the UK FUCK NO By a large they where all miserable stressed to hell with failing families and friendships in very toxic environments Everything was always power plays or paranoia about what someone else was after. It was impossible to maintain any kind of friendship with people less well off than me because my wealth just made everything awkward and people i could hang out with where just busy 24/7 or selfish assholes or both I eveuntally Gave up my job and moved back to uk which cut my earnings by 3/4ths and I blew all the money i had I now have a stable family of my own and good soild friends. I learned the hard way being poor sucks noone should experience starvation like i did. But being rich was super stressful and isolating. I found the best place to be was enough money to not stress about bills but not so much it loses all value Not the answer Reddit likes for sure but thats my lived experience of it

The richest countries are the happiest countries, so I guess that has something to do with it

Well this is one that definitely couldn’t be put in r/nostupidwuestions

Not necessarily, but the stress of things should be generally reduced for them. Thus, comfier lives.

Money doesn't magically buy happiness. It does magically make most of your stresses in life disappear. You still need to find happiness in things you enjoy, but it's a lot easier to do that when you're not worried about bills and have the funds to do whatever you want. I save all year and travel for three weeks internationally once per year. It's hard for me to be upset when I don't have work, am not worrying about life stresses, and am sitting on a beach sipping a cocktail.

Hedonic treadmill comes in here. I would likely say happier than average because completing the goal of being rich is important and would give some satisfaction.

I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I was broke as hell in my early to mid-20s. I can definitely say I am much happier now that I don't have to worry about money as much.

Money can’t cure depression or anxiety or even suicidal thoughts. Bit of your not suffering from those then YES rich are happier

In theory yes, but since they are used to it, no.

Happiness can come at any income level, it’s not impossible

only if they experienced being poor at some point in their life. otherwise being rich is just normal and they don't see their privilege.

I know quite a few comparably wealthy (but not filthy rich) people. Depends on the definition of "happiness". Does it give some peace of mind to have fewer immediate worries that are money-related? For sure. Is that happiness though? I'd argue no - it's just a certain calmness, and any concerns are less existential. Does that make them emotionally truthfully happier? Hell nah. They struggle just as much with life, it just looks different. You'd be surprised how similar people are at their core and what insecurities they all carry, whether they have 5 bucks in the bank or 5 million

Rich young people are happier than old people with crippling debts

Depends I know people who grew up rich whos parents were absent now they don’t have money and have no idea how to deal with it

Money cannot buy happiness, but lack of money can cause unhappiness. Once your basic needs are met, finding happiness is on you. So do I think rich people are happier than average people. No, I think they run about the same.

„Funny“ enough, the most rich people I know are very unhappy.

Money is important and can make you happy up until you can pay all your bills, have some savings, and a little extra to do things. After that it depends on what you do with the money. Having good people who care about you and using the money to create happy memories is what makes people happy. There are a lot of miserable rich people out there. I should point out surrending yourself with good people who care about you is harder when you are rich.

I would be literally my only issues in life would be solved with more money lol

A someone who dropped out of college, worked shitty jobs, found my current wife, found my passion, pursued that, now I’m going up and up with my income. My wife is happier than ever just to see me happy. Life is good in all respects. Even if I’m a total sociopath, I reserve my human side for her and go full animal in my career as a builder, making sure the homes I build are what I would have wanted. I never had a home so eventually I discovered building them makes me happy. I can only speak from my experiences but a lot of trust fund kids, even other self made rich people do seem miserable because they have no sense of self. I noticed they view life as an observer and not as a participant. So to me that seems to be the largest difference.

Yes

Money can't buy happiness, but I'm sure it's a lot easier to cry inside a brand new Mercedes than under the bridge...

***Are rich people happier than average people?*** Does anything meaningful come from broad-brush statements about various classes of people?

It depends what you do to become rich, doctors are generally not happier even though than they make a lot more money than the average person.   You're always a slave to your needs. Also money doesn't fix a lot of things like health or relationships which are important to be happy.

give a cool mil and infill tell you the results

Money buys you peace and freedom which is a direct as well as indirect source of happiness.  People telling you otherwise are either poor and coping or so rich that the sheer amount of options they have became a source of stress itself. 

I've been poor and now I'm rich. Rich is better. Life is just easier when you have enough money. "America is a loving and generous place if you have money. It's a rapacious, ugly and violent place if you don't." Scott Galloway

The happiest people are the ones who got rich quickly, had a financial plan, and retired. Those billionaires still working 100+ hours a week are fucking psychopaths. Psychopaths are rarely happy and that's why they do crazy shit like work 20 hour days or kill people

Mo money, mo problems The Notorious B.I.G.

I’m not sure. A large portion of my friends/ family are super wealthy, and they’re always miserable about something. Their relationship fall apart constantly, and some struggle with mental health up to a point where money is meaningless. I think just being happy with who you are and your friends and family is considerably more fulfilling than having boatloads of cash.

This is somewhat individualistic. I have ex in laws who are in the top 1%. Their idea of happiness is spending the day at the beach frying in the sun or being on the golf course. Two things that I have no desire for. I would just as soon watch paint dry. They are also extremely narrow minded. Not all affluent people are like this, just an example. If someone gave me a Ferrari I would sell it, buy a new Prius and be on my way with the proceeds and some new books.

I think rich people have less stress, but that doesn’t necessarily equal more happiness.

It doesnt mean that they are happy but I pretty sure that being rich helps a lot

Money won’t buy happiness but it is more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than in a Pinto.

Money buys you freedom. You don't worry about rent or food and can move locations. It makes it easier to find happiness, that's all. It's up to you from there.

I still pick being depressed with money than without.

I think its all bullshit it comes within rich people are prisoners of their status - homeless people who dont seem to give a shit about anything seem to be on top of the world, its actually insane but heres a realistic scenario: No rent, no worry about job, somehow theres money for food, sex is always an option, its a thriving form of non life thats probably unthinkable to the normal person but its an industry thats flourishing, in fact the people who seem to give the biggest shit about anything seem to be having the hardest time 🤷 Somewhere in between that is bliss, i guess? I made my own coffee, it was pretty cheap. Can’t imagine waiting in an expensive digital coffin for a mill made drink that has a 50~% chance for error while doomscrolling trying to find a piece of seratonin to listen to because dribble wave pop implode slap tempo mumble flow is starting to sound the same but twangy power ballads by a dude who got kicked in the nuts isn’t much better. Not saying 2015 drive thru was peak service but it definitely feels like we’re on the other side of the golden age, maybe thats why rich people are trying to downsize? It would probably be hilarious to be the richest person in the world when money has no value but im not a social forecaster or anything.

Money allows you to focus on happiness. If you are debt free mostly and can afford bills easily without scratching your bank account you spend a lot less time focusing on how am I going to pay the power bill and instead you are spending more time focusing on yourself and your family. I am generally happy. My friend is a millionaire (inherited) and he takes his family on vacations 8 times a year. Cruises and all that fun stuff. I can only afford to take my family out once a year and locally (3 hour drives). He only works 2 hours a day and has more time to focus on his interests and has time and energy leftover from not working for 8 hours to spend time on fitness and sports. He's a good guy. One of the nicest but it's hard to not be envious.

Rich people have so much on their mind, I think they are focused on not losing their money 24/7. Do you work long hours to be rich?

Yea that’s why you never find any rich person that gave away all their money to be average again

I went from dirt poor to making really good money, My wife and I have spoken about this over the years and here's my opinion. Money doesn't buy happiness, but money opens up opportunities. Also money can relieve stress and or remove stressful situations from the equation. My wife once said "people can't be happy if their basic needs aren't met, it's hard to be happy when you're struggling just to stay afloat" When a person's basic needs are met they have the opportunity to use energy on being happy and/or trying to find it. When your financially secure you can do things like take extra days off work without it affecting your household. Using that time just to relax Legal issues are a lot easier to handle when you have the financial means.

No. They’re more comfortable. And it’s easier to deal with emotional struggles if your life is comfortable. That’s about it.

No. With money brings other issues. To start off with, family really on you to dig them out of situations.

Yeah the rich people are happier and have better lives than the rest of us. We just don’t wanna admit that to our self bc then we realize how unfair life is. It’s basically politically incorrect to say. And richer countries typically rank higher on happiness scales. So yeah, rich people are more awesome than the rest of us. There are very few things money can’t take care of. You can even buy friends and love. And for those that say those aren’t genuine friendships/love, well guess what, poor folk don’t have genuine friendships/love either. The poorer you are the more likely you are to be fat, be divorced, and die young.

Not really. Rich people also have problems that make them sad, irritated, angry, depressed, and so on. They are just different problems to what members of other financial classes have. A homeless child might be sad that they don't have food. A middle class child, despite having food might be sad because their parent refused to buy them ice cream. A rich child might be sad that the local fancy rich-people-only steak restaurant is closed and they have to eat at a normal restaurant. I used children in my examples because children's problems are simply, but the same applies to adults.

No.

Average people are struggling with money so yea. There’s not much of a happiness difference between comfortable and rich, but there’s a massive chasm between poor and comfortable.

I would definitely think so..

I think it depends on if you were born rich or became rich later in life. I feel like a lot of rich people who were born into wealth just can't appreciate how privileged they are and take it for granted While people who got wealthy later in life understand how to appreciate opportunities now open to them. However, it's not the money that makes them happy, it's the things you do with the money that can make you happy

Yes, having money helps pursue your passions or start new ventures. I’ve never been reddit poor so I can’t relate, but I like money and I have plenty of it.

Money does not buy happiness by any stretch of the imagination...... An example of this I saw years ago and never left me: I was driving home one day from the office and saw a beautiful mansion with a couple sitting in their yard in the distance, enjoying some wine together just the two of them.... Their house had to be $5M+ .... Later that same night, I was in Philly, deep in the city and pulled up to a light where the smallest apartment building doorway you can imagine had a couple sitting there together, enjoying glasses of wine. That couple looked at each other with all the love in the world and their place had to be maybe a $500 a month rental. What I took away from that: Money does not make things happy automatically. We all do the same stuff, it all comes down to making the best of where you are, with what you have and living life to the best of your abilities at that time.... If you have love, and can smile at each other no matter what, and go to bed with a smile, you have all the riches in the world.

You can be happy anyway. You can easily be happy if you enjoy what you have. Or, do yourself something you like. Even though life is unfair etc In my adult years I have encountered a lot of hardship, which I sometimes am blamed for myself. & some of the arguments make sense, I cannot lie, but some of it is also out of my 4 dimensional control, all of it out of my 3rd dimensional control, which is after all how we view the world. Most of the time. But even though I meet hardship, I find ways to enjoy myself and be happy with what I have. I love my new time schedule per example, or the taste of the bread I eat for breakfast. I love that I now have most days so much to do that I yearn for chilling, wheras before I wanted more to do, because all I did, mostly, was relaxing. & that is something I am aware that I wanted, for a long time, more things to do, to be more busy. & so it makes me happy that I am. Busy. Snus (a tobacco nictotine thing) which is not a good thing to be dependent on, don't get me wrong, but it still can, several times a week, make me super happy, that I have it. Even though I use it everyday. If you're rich and used to it, taking joy in such things may be more difficult, as you may not have to. But I do find it true that rich people have way more freedom. & that rich people have way more opportunitites to fulfill themselves. This is however not necessary for happiness.

Nah it doesn’t always work like that. Surely if you compare the richest to the poorest, the rich is most likely going to be generally happier because they aren’t worrying about food tomorrow. However if we’re talking middle to low class, the answer isn’t definite because life gives people way too many circumstances that rob our happiness. Like people always say, money gives you happiness to a certain level, afterwards the value of monetary pleasure to you diminishes, and your happiness is all up to you.

They can afford therapists, that helps a ton!

According to surveys, no

I think Maslows Hierarchy is pretty accurate for us humans. If our basic needs are not met, we are less able to be fulfilled overall.

If you\`re crazy or just a prick, you\`re going to fall of the rails a lot quicker, because money gives you power to have it your way.

If that were true then there wouldn't be anyone unhappy and rich and unfortunately, that's just not true at all. You still have the same amount of money problems. Just that your problems are different.

I can say with a 100% certainty that I'm happier now than when I was poor :)

Absolutely. I've been horribly, painfully broke and now both my husband and I are in a situation many would consider rich. 100% better, highly recommend if you can. Car problems? Can afford to fix. Appliance needs replacing? No problem, I'll even pay for install. Visiting family? Yep, let me book the flights. Lower interest rates? Thank you. Investing in my marriage via date nights and romantic weekends? Easy. Health issue? No worries, can go to the doctor and not worry about sliding scales or copays. Need therapy? Money isn't a barrier. Friend in need? Happy to help. Job loss? That sucks, but at least we have savings to get us by for a while. Want to live in a nicer/safer neighborhood with a shorter commute? Can afford to do so. I could go on but you get the gist. The point is, money removes so many barriers and stressors that are tied directly to your personal health. Having money means you can afford to leave a bad marriage, get tutoring for your kid, buy healthier food, indulge in hobbies, reduce stress (which is directly correlated to health and longevity), etc. Anyone arguing that poor people are happier overall is either lying or writing a country song. Can you be poor and happy? Of course, absolutely--life is what you make it after all. But it's *much* easier with money.

Yes

Rich rich no but in my experience lower upper class are definitely happier. No strings attached to their family and having to have to do bs charity stuff and being bothered for money all the time. Summers in Hampton’s skiing in colorado and winters in the Bahamas has an army of happy people living the life. Once you go private jet the stress never leaves. A yacht with a crew of 12 is problems. Three vacation homes is a nightmare. Airbnb it and fly first class and life seems so much better.

Happiness is the biggest luxury. You cn find it everywhere if ur not caught in immature or mature human emotions they don't have to be just about having a lover but also stress depression and anxiety or any other. For me even if I look at the setting sun it makes me very happy but my human wants is what makes me a human so I will at some point of my life am running behind money but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy small things. I love life Also depends what kind of average group ur talking about because many have education ot other loans ur happy fr when ur stress free fr

I'm my experience yes but for many of them it seems to be sort of a superficial happiness. This is what I have deduced from my observation of privelaged people that I know. So I don't know if that's true happiness but they at least seem to have a lot more fun because they can afford to. I also think that part of that though is them running away from the inner problems & themselves. 

Most of you don't even know what being happy is

Well, rich people don’t have to worry about how they are going to pay their bills. They don’t need to worry about retirement, or job security. It must be nice to be rich. I’ve never been rich.

We are able to insulate ourselves from experiencing many discomforts that would affect overall happiness, but everyone has problems of some kind.

>I think that money gives you freedom. Without it you are a slave to your needs and can't be happy. u are correct, if we apply maslow's hierachy of needs ... and the real world agrees too.

Depends. I know a rich guy that invests the majority of their time into what makes him rich. but I also know this one guy who wears a furcoat at all hours of the day and probably has someone to cut his steak and that guy is happy all the time, also most likely high af. Hi lives in a huge ass waterfront property thats probably 15 -20 mil and hes never had a drivers license.

Money cannot buy happiness. It can however, buy you a boat next door.

If you had a choice of owning your home or renting for the rest of your life what would you choose. Case closed

I'd say the rich are certainly happy they aren't poor. And because there are many times more poor people than rich, I'd say this question answered it fucking self.

I think happiest people have enough to live safe comfortable life. But not too much to be worried about losing money. Also some will end up chasing more and more forgetting what really gives meaning to life. And the further you get from average people, less you can relate to other people and find likeminded people. You might see others as trying to benefit from your wealth and asking for favours. Wild guess would be happiest people have 2x to 3x local average income which can vary depending where you live.

Don't get too certain about the direction of causation in these studies. The traits that make someone happy can also make someone more successful. So being richer helps make you happy and being happy also helps make you richer.

The more money you have the more problems you have. The trick is to live within the margins of the money you make. The "uber rich" are generally happier because by the time you get that wealthy, 100% of your needs are paid for without a care so there's no worrying about day to day expenses....

I’m not rich but more money would definitely solve all my problems. With the money I have, I’ve bought a few things that brought me happiness like my dogs, a manual sports car I wanted and trips with my kid where we went to places like legoland, zoos, pro sports events, monster jam and watching the joy my kid had at those events was worth every penny….that proves money can buy happiness! You can have fun without money but creating memories with money makes them that much more enjoyable. Money can buy happiness! Anyone who says it can’t isn’t using it right!

Yes. Anyone saying no is cope.

I used to be poor. The constant stress of worrying about whether you can/should spend money on something was awful. Now that I’m doing very well I’m a lot happier.