Money does make you happier, new study finds.

[Irishgirlyc58]

There's happy, happier, happiest (probably unachievable). As long as I'm this scale, which I am, I'm good. But the thread is about money making you happier. I believe it does, well beyond the $75K range. Probably incrementally. I'm very happy for the most part. It would take a ton more money to move the scale. But it's definitely doable, at least for me.

I wonder if people with a lot of money stress all the time about losing their money and therefore that decreases their happiness?
I’m thinking about actor’s/ entertainer’s that make a lot of money but also have that extravagant lifestyle that goes with it. If your money goes down then your lifestyle needs to adjust and then your money goes down even more?
I’m not sure but if someone wants to do a study I would be happy to get more money for a period of time and see if it stresses me out and makes me less happy. [emoji48]

 

[O2Bfree]

I wonder if people with a lot of money stress all the time about losing their money and therefore that decreases their happiness?

Some probably do. I know the wife of one of the founders of Starbucks, and she has mentioned suffering from anxiety over the thought of losing it all.

 

[explanade]

How much more happy is a billionaire compared to someone who has say $50 million?

Billionaire could afford luxuries like super yachts, private jets all the time.

A person with $50 million may be able to fly private often but probably wouldn't buy a Gulf Stream V and have a staff of pilots and crew, pay for maintenance, etc.

Is that person less happy when he or she has to slum it and fly first class on commercial instead, dealing with TSA and queues at crowded airports?

Difficult to say if there's a universal marginal utility threshold for millions vs. billions.

 

[jollystomper]

I wonder if people with a lot of money stress all the time about losing their money and therefore that decreases their happiness?
I’m thinking about actor’s/ entertainer’s that make a lot of money but also have that extravagant lifestyle that goes with it. If your money goes down then your lifestyle needs to adjust and then your money goes down even more?
I’m not sure but if someone wants to do a study I would be happy to get more money for a period of time and see if it stresses me out and makes me less happy. [emoji48]

I do not believe so, at least for the majority of those folks. There is a lot of ego floating around at those levels . I think more focus on "someone in my field is making more than me, and that's wrong" or "lose my money? It can't happen to me!" and worry about losing it. Some may also be depressed at the thought of having a lot of money, but still seeing their life as not "perfect".

They might worry more about who around them they can trust in a general sense.

 

[Koolau]

Can you picture sitting behind a restaurant in 40 degree rain waiting for the fresh trash to come out? Sleeping under a bridge wrapped in cardboard?
I managed to survive nearly a year desperately broke. Miserable... for sure, but I still have some good memories and great lessons learned from it.

When my dad lived like that, there were few restaurants to sit behind. He travelled the country (under trains, mostly) looking for w*rk during the depression. He had to avoid the railroad dicks who used to club "free riders" when they could. Bailing off a moving train to avoid a beat down, he lost most of a hand.

FF to when I knew him. He made certain his family always had a warm place to sleep and plenty to eat. There was little extra, but my parents made it w*rk. I picked up a lot of the habits they acquired during the depression. I still hate waste and I find it difficult to BTD though I'm slowly realizing I'm not taking it with me.

I guess we're all a jumble of attitudes acquired from our parents and also forged by our own life experience. "Happy" or "happiness" is a rather nebulous term - especially when it comes to external actors such as money.

I always come back to the term "enough" when I think about money or possessions. With "enough" I am happy and no longer strive for (significantly) more. Very much a YMMV subject.

 

[NW-Bound]

When my dad lived like that, there were few restaurants to sit behind. He travelled the country (under trains, mostly) looking for w*rk during the depression. He had to avoid the railroad dicks who used to club "free riders" when they could. Bailing off a moving train to avoid a beat down, he lost most of a hand...

Reminds me of an excellent movie called "Emperor of the North" with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Keith Carradine.

 

[street]

When my dad lived like that, there were few restaurants to sit behind. He travelled the country (under trains, mostly) looking for w*rk during the depression. He had to avoid the railroad dicks who used to club "free riders" when they could. Bailing off a moving train to avoid a beat down, he lost most of a hand.

FF to when I knew him. He made certain his family always had a warm place to sleep and plenty to eat. There was little extra, but my parents made it w*rk. I picked up a lot of the habits they acquired during the depression. I still hate waste and I find it difficult to BTD though I'm slowly realizing I'm not taking it with me.

I guess we're all a jumble of attitudes acquired from our parents and also forged by our own life experience. "Happy" or "happiness" is a rather nebulous term - especially when it comes to external actors such as money.

I always come back to the term "enough" when I think about money or possessions. With "enough" I am happy and no longer strive for (significantly) more. Very much a YMMV subject.

Interesting Koolau. There was some hard times for people and we all here can count our blessing for where we are today. Humbling stories like that us very fortunate in life.

 

[ncbill]

How much more happy is a billionaire compared to someone who has say $50 million?

Billionaire could afford luxuries like super yachts, private jets all the time.

A person with $50 million may be able to fly private often but probably wouldn't buy a Gulf Stream V and have a staff of pilots and crew, pay for maintenance, etc.

Is that person less happy when he or she has to slum it and fly first class on commercial instead, dealing with TSA and queues at crowded airports?

Difficult to say if there's a universal marginal utility threshold for millions vs. billions.

At $50 million you can afford a jet-share if flying first-class commercial won't hack it.

One big advantage is that a deca-millionaire can be a whole lot more spontaneous versus any billionaire, since the latter has to send a security team to scope out any new location weeks in advance.

 

[Andre1969]

Re: Emperor of the North. I remember seeing it on tv as a kid. It was one of those movies the local stations would show weekday afternoons or Saturday/Sunday during the day. I still have a vivid memory of that hobo getting knocked off the train, falling between the cars and, well, it wasn't pretty...

 

[Gumby]

I am put in mind of the song "East Texas Red" by Woody Guthrie, sung here by his son, Arlo Guthrie.

 

[Koolau]

Reminds me of an excellent movie called "Emperor of the North" with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Keith Carradine.

Sounds like an interesting movie. However, the life of a "hobo" - especially those who rode the rails - was much more a life of cooperation. Although many men participated in petty crime to survive (after all, riding the rails was against the law) mostly they were just guys who had previously had j*bs, many had families, they often were spiritual.

They passed on tips about where a man could get a meal. "Such and such widow lady will let you chop wood for a really nice meal of corn bread and beans. There's a hobo sign at the Danbey Junction curve just before her white house with picket fence. You can bail off at a fast walk there."

W*rk was the most important thing to a hobo. Dad got a job on a ranch in Texas. He'd never ridden a horse in his life, but he rounded up stray cattle on the ranch. My favorite story was about him getting lost on the range. He simply dropped the rains, held onto the horn and nudged the horse who ran back to the barn.

I wish I had asked him more, but I know his time as a hobo was tragic as well as comedic. He participated in early skin grafting for his hand which was a fascinating story that I had to pry out of him.

Well, returning you now...

 

[MichaelB]

There was some hard times for people and we all here can count our blessing for where we are today. Humbling stories like that us very fortunate in life.

Amen to that, brother …