Money and Happiness
“Money can’t buy us happiness,” Jessie J
Jessie J, you have no idea how much happier I could be if I were able to afford that bag on the opposite side of that window.
A research paper in Nature Human Behaviour, found that — not to our surprise — money does indeed positively contribute to happiness. The optimal amount earned related to emotional well-being is around $60,000 ~ $75,000. Meanwhile, $95,000 is the life satisfaction point. In other words, it’s the point you achieve the peak of overall happiness in life. BTW, numbers are in USD per annum so do the conversions to find out the peak!
However, it doesn’t mean there’s a positive correlation between happiness and money all the time. After the $95,000 mark, people are notably more unhappy when they have more money!
The theory behind their unhappiness is the higher costs that’s tagged along behind their sizeable pockets. Past that tipping point, higher income amounts to greater workload, less time for leisure, more stress, status comparison and many more things I won’t understand (yet).
Money can be all that some sought for. They can be willing to sacrifice time and relationships for more Yusof Ishak’s (Benjamin Franklin in the US) in their wallet. While for others, they strive to strike the balance between money and their happiness.
No one’s gonna judge which of the two categories you fall under. Okay, who am I kidding, judgmental people are everywhere these days. But anyway, at the end of the day, you’re in command of your own happiness and what makes you happy.
What we can take away from this research is, “money” and “happiness” can never truly be independent of each other. While we derive a portion of happiness from money, it doesn’t mean that you should rob a bank and you’ll be the happiest person in the world! Don’t rob a bank please.
Adapted from: Jamie Ducharme
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