I stumbled into this old article/study: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.html Does happiness really top out at the 100k income level? I personally disagree, since the world has unlimited problems, where excess money could be allocated, providing one a sense of purpose (and happiness).
If you Google "can money buy happiness" you'll get a ton of results. I guess that a lot depends on how you define "happiness". If that definition is different from person A to person B, then the amount of money needed might also be different.
Careful about projecting. Not everyone cares about the world's problems, although most will throw some cash at it.
I believe it. Happiness is a function of who you are, not what you have. And money can't change who you are. Excess in physical desires has never made me happy in life, it always feels disgusting.Think about the last time you overstuffed your face with a box of donuts. Money can't buy self love, and becoming the best version of yourself.
I think about it every time. Sure feels dirty but I always go back to it. Not that I’m in bad shape or nothing, but human impulsiveness is powerful. Just realized you’re comparing donuts to money. Nothing good comes out of a donut. Plenty of good can be done with money.
That story was from 2010. $75K then would be like $125-$150K(?) now. Years ago when I was just getting started in the financial biz, I recall being really proud of myself when I first made $40K in a year. I was doing "financial planning for fee", and thought "$100K/yr" would be my happy number. But when I did financial plans on folks who made $100K, I found that most couldn't scrape together $10K cash. Sure, they had a bit better house and drove a bit better car... maybe took a fancier vacation... but were still nowheres-ville financially. So, I thought, "$250K must be the happy number". Turns out that wasn't it either. After paying much higher taxes, having a bit better house and a bit better car... most of those folks also had a little trouble "rubbing 2 nickels together". (I remeber one gal with 4 kids... whose husband was a surgeron... telling me, "just becasue we make $250K/year doesn't mean we have money".) Bottom Line... difficult to get ahead in a progressive income tax society unless you make TONS of dough and live well below your means.... plus saving to accumulate capital and learning to invest well. That's a lot of hurdles.
i think it is more a curse than being lucky to win $1billion in the lottery. Yes I know I know, I wouldn’t give it back either.
Probably if you have an addiction (booze, drugs, sex, gambling etc) otherwise i think you will be o.k.