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But for that to work, you can't be wasting your money on things that don't buy "freedom".
Absolute freedom is a thing you might experience when you are lost in the middle of the uninhabited lands (hypothetically speaking). Yes, humans need some measure of freedom & independence, but absolute freedom and independence is probably the surest way to a suicide. Just imagine you having an unlimited charge card to buy everybody and everything (in other words to be independent) and nobody else? I'm not an independently wealthy, but that would suck, that's probably why many 1st generation wealth celebrities end up bad. They were promised nirvana, and they got hell instead.
We can't override our social nature. Life in strong cohesive communities offers maximum number of the short-lived moments of happiness to an average person. Strong cohesive communities of the independent people is an oxymoron. People need some measure of dependency & meaningful, useful relationships to stay sane. Just look around you, modestly well off people are getting more and more independent every day, meaning they just need a job to survive in the midst of the human deserts. Surprisingly, these unheard of before levels of independence do nothing to improve happiness indexes.
people with an annual household income of $75,000 are about as happy as anyone gets
Making good healthy decisions in your life that benefit you directly make you happy. The type of person who does those things usually have quite a bit of money because they are wired to better themselves and make things easier on themselves.
Its a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" type of thing. Is the person who better their life more likely to have more money?
The need for freedom, independence, and social interaction varies by person. Personally, I know I need a great deal of freedom and independence to be happy. Others find more happiness in social structures and interpersonal interactions.
Levels of wealth and happiness are like the chicken and the egg - which came first? Confident people are often happy. Happy people tend to attract others to them which, in turn, attracts opportunities which can lead to wealth.
Here is a thread I started about Happiness with some interesting responses which I feel are applicable.
IMO, happiness comes from w/in one's independent mind/soul but is heavily influenced by social interaction and variables such as interpersonal relationships, wealth, health, beauty, luck, etc.
Making good healthy decisions in your life that benefit you directly make you happy. The type of person who does those things usually have quite a bit of money because they are wired to better themselves and make things easier on themselves.
Its a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" type of thing. Is the person who better their life more likely to have more money?
lol... I wrote/posted "it's like the chicken and the egg - which came first?" before I read your post! Great Chicago minds think alike!
I am not going to dispute the $75K happiness ticket research, but I wanted to relate a story:
I was out to dinner with a group of friends last year. We were with several mid-managers from the same Chicago Fortune 500 big corp. They were doing their best to convince the rest of the table that getting a $75K salary makes someone happy. They were so armed with figures/research, that it didn't take long for the rest of us to realize they were parroting the corporate line. And they did admit that, yes, their corporation had e-blasted those $75K happiness studies to all the employees, and even covered the topic in meetings - giving the appearance of corporate indoctrination.
These employees were very highly educated (e.g. MBA's, PhD scientists), yet they bought the whole thing, hook, line and sinker. They believed that if their employer paid them a minimum of $75K, they should be happy. These corporate workers admitted they didn't really like their jobs, but thought the $75K should make them happy.
BTW, the other diners were 3 business owners and 2 teachers who could just not relate at all to their line of thinking. The business owners (many of whom had struggled financially for years) mentioned they would equate "creative and financial freedom" to happiness, while the 2 teachers picked "service to others" as their key to happiness. They preferred "freedom" and "ability to help others" even if it meant making much less than $75K. The corporate workers did not believe us.
It was a very interesting discussion. Every one has their own interpretation of what it takes to be happy. There is not one right answer.
Most people who said wealth doesn't buy happiness are the people who don't have much wealth, and to make themselves feel better, they came up with this trick to try to control their bad emotions, and maybe avoid jealousy or envy.
Wealth is very hard to obtain, everyone wants a lot of wealth, but don't want to sacrifice for it. If getting wealthy is easy, then everyone will grab it in a heartbeat. It might not buy permanent happiness, but it sure do buy a lot of temporary happiness, and less stress and worries.
Regardless what you think if wealth buys happiness or not, we can always guarantee more wealth is better than no wealth.
But for that to work, you can't be wasting your money on things that don't buy "freedom".
Bingo!
Buy a 50k sq ft mansion and you just bought a commitment for as long as you own it! Buy a fleet of exotic cars and you will never be enjoying the open road but rather touring repair shops. Buy a 150 ft yacht and you will be stressing about where it can fit and what is broken now!
Things like these burn up your time, freedom and your wealth!
5-6k sq ft, 3-4 cars, a boat you can run yourself is adequate excess for me!
Most people who said wealth doesn't buy happiness are the people who don't have much wealth, and to make themselves feel better, they came up with this trick to try to control their bad emotions, and maybe avoid jealousy or envy.
Wealth is very hard to obtain, everyone wants a lot of wealth, but don't want to sacrifice for it. If getting wealthy is easy, then everyone will grab it in a heartbeat. It might not buy permanent happiness, but it sure do buy a lot of temporary happiness, and less stress and worries.
Regardless what you think if wealth buys happiness or not, we can always guarantee more wealth is better than no wealth.
Hence the reason the world buys billions in lottery tickets!
Most people who said wealth doesn't buy happiness are the people who don't have much wealth, and to make themselves feel better, they came up with this trick to try to control their bad emotions, and maybe avoid jealousy or envy.
Wealth is very hard to obtain, everyone wants a lot of wealth, but don't want to sacrifice for it. If getting wealthy is easy, then everyone will grab in a heartbeat. It might not buy permanent happiness, but it sure do buy a lot of temporary happiness, and less stress and worries.
What about people who have been both very poor and very wealthy? I am thinking of my social group of business owners who have gone from being millions in debt to becoming multi-millionaires. Or, those who once owned very successful companies, but are now bankrupt and losing their homes.
I have known these people through all wealth stages. And many (though not all) were happy as poor, struggling students sleeping on couches, happy going into major debt to grow their businesses, and even relatively happy about starting anew after complete financial failure. There is a happiness mindset despite the circumstance. I am one of those people BTW. I have chosen happiness even in the most dire financial circumstances. Maybe that seems idiotic to some people. But I consider it a survival skill.
Hence the reason the world buys billions in lottery tickets!
This is the destructive mindset of the masses that preaches one must depend on other people or other things (e.g. material possessions, lottery tickets) to bring wealth and happiness, whereas much of wealth and happiness is self-made.
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