this question is often asked by those on the way up financially. my thoughts on the matter is that the PROPER use of money brings one happiness--- i have just returned from an estate sale where the person bought a very nice house and 5 acres for 4.5 million. he is planning on tearing the house down and building a 30k sq foot house on the lot. i was wondering, is this guy happy ?? man, i think i would be in those circumstances--but who knows. is this the PROPER use of money ?? any thoughts ?? surfer
The point is that he has the freedom to say his ideas reign supreme over anyones else. Yes money for the most part brings happiness. There will be a ton of people who disagree, but i would say most of them aren't in the superrich category.
These people who buy houses just to tear them down get to me. Especially when they're older houses with their own personal histories. And the new things they put up in their place are usually ugly. There are plenty of people in the superrich category complaining about their malaise, they go and get themselves addicted to drugs or alcohol, or they crash themselves up in (reckless) thrill-seeking. (see: Christopher Reeve, John Denver, Michael Kennedy, John Kennedy Jr, Jason Priestly. -I didn't include Sonny Bono, because I don't know if he was reckless or just unlucky or dumb)
Correct. Making it is only part of the equation. What you do with it after the fact is just as important. Making money for just the sake of having it gets you nowhere. Giving is what provides the happiness. Just a thought, triple
In fact, I believe that Christopher Reeve, John Denver, John Kennedy, Jason Priestly, and probably the other two ski-klutzes as well, are/were nice guys. But they got themselves wrecked up by taking risks that the rest of us might not, partly because we don't have the time and money for these expensive leisure activities that the more wealthy do. And my point in mentioning them I guess is that sometimes the wealthy get too reckless for their own good, as a way to escape being too idle for their own good. Choosing a horse against the recommendations of the trainer is a good example. Jason Priestly is a better example of willful pursuit of adrenaline at the risk of his life and health. I wish them both well and that they may recover as much health as possible.
Getting rich solved 90-something percent of my problems. Being rich isn't quite like a lifelong blissful orgasm, but yeah I'm much happier.
Money doesn't change a persons essence. If one is a clown without money one will just be a more extreme clown with money. If you see some behavior displayed by a person who aquires money that wasn't apparent before, it was always there, they just didn't feel comfortable displaying it in their previous financial/social circumstances. Banjo
Money doesn't buy happiness, but having it gets rid of a lot of sources of unhappiness. You just don't have to worry about whether your basic needs anymore. Traveler
Once you have your basic needs met there isn't much correlation between wealth and happiness. Although -- to be sure -- there still is some correlation between wealth and happiness. This is according to a scientific study I read about but don't recall where and can't reference. Stronger indicators of happiness were: strong family relationships, an active social life, and an active spiritual life (church attendance, relationship with God). I don't think the slope of one's equity curve was considered in the study, but I'm sure I'd be happier if mine were more positive!