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03-12-2018, 04:25 PM
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#21
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,321
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I think that it is a pretty theoretical concept. Asking people at what income they would be happiest and not having them consider how hard they would have to work, what they might have to do or the sacrifices they would have to make seems quite artificial. I had two earning peaks in my career and my times of maximal unhappiness probably corresponded with each of them.
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03-12-2018, 04:37 PM
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#22
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 9,358
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TimeMeasure
Yes! That might have been meant as a joke... and it is funny... but it would also be genuinely interesting to know.
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I meant it seriously. We have enough income to be happy according to most of the studies, but another factor is are you the richest person in your neighborhood. We are probably kind of in the middle on that criteria, but I'm still think I'm pretty happy most days. So I thought about it and wondered would I be happier if we moved to where we can be the Joneses? I decided the reason we are happy is our currency of choice is probably free time more than more money. If we wanted more income it would be easy enough to get some kind of jobs again. We live in a suburb people move to for houses with yards and good schools for the kids, but then many have long commutes to get to work. Working full-time, commuting, raising kids, sports, school activities - there just isn't a lot of free time leftover.
__________________
Even clouds seem bright and breezy, 'Cause the livin' is free and easy, See the rat race in a new way, Like you're wakin' up to a new day (Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether lyrics, Alan Parsons Project, based on an EA Poe story)
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03-12-2018, 04:42 PM
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#23
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mamadogmamacat
Well I made considerably more than $95k during most of my working years. But, am much happier, perhaps quite content is a better description, than I ever was during my working years now that I'm retired. I even look back on those years, including the worst of them in terms of office politics and dreadful management, with a degree of contentment because at least I was always socking it away into various investments in order to arrive where I am today.
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Ah, I forgot that income during working is not the same as expenses during retirement.
Yes, in my peak years, I made more than double that $95K (not counting wife's income), which would be more in today's dollars due to inflation.
Not having earned income for a while, when an amount of money is discussed, I always think of it as expenses. And $190K for a couple is plenty to spend. I have never gone anywhere that high, though when children were in college a low 6-figure was the usual number.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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03-12-2018, 04:59 PM
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#24
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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And I am reminded of something that we talk about again and again here.
An income of $X means different things in different scenarios. High or low cost of living area? Retired couple with no mortgage nor dependents, or a younger couple paying much in taxes and raising 4 kids with two in college, while still paying off their home?
The retired couple can have a ball and travel the world on much less than what the younger couple are sweating to earn.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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03-12-2018, 07:54 PM
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#25
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 193
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I've never been happy.
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Our ambitions are a strong function of our current horizon
03-12-2018, 09:27 PM
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#26
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: The Shire
Posts: 1,504
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Our ambitions are a strong function of our current horizon
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sojourner
I'm not quite sure what to make of the results of this study. Since the salary level for "broad life satisfaction" in the U.S. (for a single, not a family) was found to be $105K, and something like 90% of all individuals make less than $100K/year, does this mean that (generally speaking) the vast majority of people in the U.S. are not broadly satisfied with their lives? Perhaps, but I'm a bit skeptical.
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Excellent point. Since the article presents some conclusions based on the study, but not the study itself, I would not use it as a guide for decision-making. Above all, I would not let it tell me whether I have enough money to be happy.
It reminds me of an analogous study reported in the WSJ some 35 years ago. People in different income ranges were asked a question something like "How much more income would it take for you to be 'all set'?"
I can't remember the exact criteria for 'all set', but it meant some improvement in living standard that respondents could identify with and which they expected would obviate perceptions of being in financial straits.
The answer was a surprisingly uniform increase of ~30-40% over what they already earned. So folks making 10k (in 1983 dollars) typically wanted 14k, and folks making 100k wanted 140k. There weren't a lot of responses saying "I need billions to be happy."
Similarly, the respondents in the OP's study seem to believe that financial "happiness" lies somewhere north of their means but within plausible striking distance.
__________________
Paying it forward is the best investment.
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03-12-2018, 09:40 PM
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#27
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,350
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scrabbler1
When my wage income peaked in 2000 at about $74k, I was at my peak in misery. After I switched to working part-time in 2001 and saw my salary nearly halve, I became happier. When I reduced my salary by another 40% in 2007, I became happier. And when I ERed and reduced my income by 100% of what little was left, I became even more happy!
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This would be the result for me as well. I could make $200K/yr and I would still be unhappy working full time. I would be much happier not working and living off $30K/yr than working and living off any amount.
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03-12-2018, 09:49 PM
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#28
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 766
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
No - it's highly individualistic.
There is just some number above which people become less worried about financial issues/outcomes. Again - it totally depends on the individual and their cost of living.
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+1
$105K sounds like a fair amount of money. But, if someone is paying high healthcare premiums and has high deductibles, that $105K could easily be $70-$80K (or less) after subtracting those expenses.
That's just one example.
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03-12-2018, 09:56 PM
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#29
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronc879
This would be the result for me as well. I could make $200K/yr and I would still be unhappy working full time. I would be much happier not working and living off $30K/yr than working and living off any amount.
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What if that full-time work is 1) something you like to do, and 2) you are with people whom you like working with?
I always had the 1st. The lack of the 2nd quality was why I stopped.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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03-12-2018, 10:02 PM
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#30
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,350
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound
What if that full-time work is 1) something you like to do, and 2) you are with people whom you like working with?
I always had the 1st. The lack of the 2nd quality was why I stopped.
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I can't imagine any full time job being something that I would want to do more than have the time to use as I choose. If I were able to work from home on my schedule then that may be ok.
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03-13-2018, 04:21 AM
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#31
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Pinetops
Posts: 521
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R
I am LOTS happier with a place to live and knowing where my next meal is coming from, than otherwise. It's nice to be able to afford heating and AC as needed, too, internet, and medical care when I need that.
But once my basic needs are met, I am pretty happy. So, probably $30K is a closer estimate for me than $95K. I do spend more than $30K, because I can, but I don't think I need to do that in order to be happy.
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+1
30K is my fixed annual number and I am HAPPY. It covers my 1/2 of everything. Wife will do about the same when she chooses to ER. She just happens to like that nasty thing that we used to call w*rk.
__________________
I
ER 12/15/2017
Now: Side Hustle(r) Extraordinaire
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03-13-2018, 04:48 AM
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#32
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Tampa
Posts: 11,296
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronc879
This would be the result for me as well. I could make $200K/yr and I would still be unhappy working full time. I would be much happier not working and living off $30K/yr than working and living off any amount.
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+1 nothing better than retired.
__________________
TGIM
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03-13-2018, 05:27 AM
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#33
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 821
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being happy is a fleeting, temporary state of mind.
Life is all about ups and downs.
Noone is going to be happy all the time, and shouldn't expect to be.
My goal is to be "at peace"
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“Earth is the insane asylum of the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
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