Does money=happiness?

Money does not buy you happiness BUT I do not think you can be "happy" without money as well. And 50k is nothing if you live in Southern California. Even decent apartments run around $2000.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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. Like you said, it's fine if you're in your early 20s, but it's no way to live much beyond that imo.

Why not? Why is there this perception that you're not actually a fully mature adult until you start inundating yourself in possessions?

Originally Posted by Edward Appleby

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Why not? Why is there this perception that you're not actually a fully mature adult until you start inundating yourself in possessions?

I'm not saying that at all. I just wouldn't want to live within those constraints much beyond my early 20s. It would suck not to have money to travel or splurge on things you wanted. Sure, there are things you can do without money, but there are a lot more things you can do when you have it. Is it the be all, end all, of happiness? No, but removing constraints gets you part of the way there. And there's a big gap between inundating yourself with possessions and having enough money that you don't have to shop at dollar stores.

I can only speak for myself, but I'm much happier now that I have money to spend, don't have roommates, and have freedom to do as I please without worrying about whether or not I'll be able to make rent.

It's not that you can't be happy on $30k, I doubt if anyone is saying that, but it is probably more of a challenge because of the stresses imposed by the various impediments.

I got picked up out of college for the mid 50s, and while I'm not particularly happy, it isn't because of the money, and the fact that I do have enough free money to 'play' with does make it better sometimes.

Regards,
Huntsman

There are several truisms that illuminate this issue. First, no matter how wealthy you are, if one were to discover that he had a terminal illness that person would happily agree to live the balance of his life in abject poverty in exchange for a miraculous cure. Second, I"ve lived long enough to learn that the kinds of things that truly ruin lives (depression, mental illness, infidelity, poor family relationships, substance abuse, etc.) are not affected at all by wealth. These problems will continue to dog people no matter how far they progress up the economic food chain.

My two cents.

This has been an interesting thread. So many valid viewpoints from all sides.

Married 28 years now. It was without thinking even as a working class young couple of 21 and 18 years of age that from an apartment we would move to a home in a - to us - 'nicer' section of town. So, without even really thinking about it, here we are, the missus and I. It was also without thinking that if we could we would provide university tuition for our children we would do that too. Done.

I am grateful for what I have and envious of nice things that others have. I drive an old Subaru - sure wish I had a Porsche 911 - but with what I earn now in my twilight earning years and my investments - this isn't going to happen.

I have friends so wealthy they don't realize they make their less wealthy friends uncomfortable. This can take form in conversation or what my wife calls the 'parade-of possessions'. I also have friends like those described in an earlier post that work close to their public transit accessible shared accomodations so as to not have to buy a car.

Finally, to answer the question, I would say that with the things that can afflict you or your loved ones - ill health, unexpected or early death, I would say that money does NOT equal happiness, after a basic apartment and several bespoke shirts are in your closet. :&gt

-Moose

It's certainly not a broad truth, but the wealthy people I know are very happy people in the cases where they made the money on their own, instead of inheriting it. So perhaps knowing and really appreciating the value of money through your own experiences gives one a higher utility from every dollar they have.

Also in regards to the 50k issue; I grew up in a place where 50k would be plenty (for example, two of my friends share a 2bdr apartment for six hundred dollars a month). Now that I live in LA though, I can certainly see how 50k would be considered on the low end, so I can understand both sides of the argument.

last year I was unemployed for a few months - after working for a start up that didn't pay me steadily, and that folded owing me money, and after leaving a job that I had taken, knowing that I was taking a 50% cut in gross salary for a chance to move to the states. so, by last may, I had burned up all of my savings, and was living pretty tight.

I was on the way to a job interview in virginia when my car died. not only did I not have enough money to replace the car, I wasn't sure I had enough money to rent a car to drive down to the interview.


this weekend, I had a flat tire, in a rental car in Orlando, where I had taken my family for a short vacation, staying in a hotel suite, hitting 3 parks in 3 days, and basically feeling no worries about blowing a nice little chunk of money on a small family vacation.

I had to contrast this to the last time I had to wait for a tow truck, this year I was annoyed that my rental car didn't have a working jack, and that I wasted 2 hours waiting, but the experience wasn't all that bad. last year, I was sweating blood over it.


so, while money doesn't buy happiness, it can take away a lot of stress.

Money makes you a lot happier when you actually had to earn it yourself.

Seems to me that Conne's main problem is that he has come to the realization that any money he has is the fruit of his parents' labor, not his own.

What makes people unhappy is not a lack of money - what makes people unhappy is the realization that they are worthless. This can happen to rich folks just as easily as it can happen to poor folks. I think this is the crux of your problem Conne.

Originally Posted by odoreater

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Money makes you a lot happier when you actually had to earn it yourself.

Seems to me that Conne's main problem is that he has come to the realization that any money he has is the fruit of his parents' labor, not his own.

What makes people unhappy is not a lack of money - what makes people unhappy is the realization that they are worthless. This can happen to rich folks just as easily as it can happen to poor folks. I think this is the crux of your problem Conne.

May I amplify your point by saying that unearned money can also cause a type of foolish pride and a type of social disconnect. My aquaintance 'Mr. Inheritance' [ he has a close relative - 'Mr. Generous Living Allowance'] spends most of his time in social situations letting you know he owes 'at least 3 millions' because of improvements to his home. Poor boy.

Perhaps money does = happiness. The boarders at the local private boys school (Hong Kong Chinese mostly) look immensely happy as they drive their 3 series BMWs (hey, life ain't THAT good).

Originally Posted by odoreater

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Money makes you a lot happier when you actually had to earn it yourself.

Seems to me that Conne's main problem is that he has come to the realization that any money he has is the fruit of his parents' labor, not his own.

What makes people unhappy is not a lack of money - what makes people unhappy is the realization that they are worthless. This can happen to rich folks just as easily as it can happen to poor folks. I think this is the crux of your problem Conne.

excellent post

Originally Posted by odoreater

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Money makes you a lot happier when you actually had to earn it yourself.

Seems to me that Conne's main problem is that he has come to the realization that any money he has is the fruit of his parents' labor, not his own.

What makes people unhappy is not a lack of money - what makes people unhappy is the realization that they are worthless. This can happen to rich folks just as easily as it can happen to poor folks. I think this is the crux of your problem Conne.

As I said much earlier in the thread, these type of people run from one meaningless existential crisis to another. Their feelings toward money are very ambivalent as while they have no knowledge of and/or contemptfor the poor set, they realize the parents control the money faucet so get very twisted over things.

I disagree with the point that you have to earn your own money to be happy.

Originally Posted by Dragon

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I disagree with the point that you have to earn your own money to be happy.

I know two people who have inherited money who are happy - and neither inherited enough to live off of it, they inherited enough to nicely suppliment their own incomes.

the people I know who have inherited larger amounts of money have been misrable, mostly as a direct result of the money.
but that is my limited experience.

You need to have this amount per annum to be happy.

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