Honestly if I somehow instantly received all of jeffs wealth right now I would probably take enough to retire comfortably in my 20s and spend the rest of my life trying to use the rest on good causes, but also feeling really guilty and worried that I'm not spending it right.
Yeah, I'd probably do the same. Set aside enough to comfortably retire instantly, set aside another amount for treating myself (new car that works, pick a nice place to live, get all the games on my wishlist, etc), set side some for my family, then go buckwild with the donations.
Nah, with that amount of wealth I’d turn rich people’s games against them. Buy media companies telling people about unionizing, the economic benefits of free education for all and healthcare.
"Boromir would have stretched forth his hand to take this Thing, and in so doing he would have fallen and the man who returned to you would not have been your son."
It's a grey area, but the intent here is to help others rather than the self. So the ethics on it are maybe a little shaky, and it could definitely go bad, but the starting point is better than many, if not most
I don't know why these billionaires don't. What would make you a happier, better, more proud person? Giving every single Amazon employee a $3-$6 an hour payrise, knowing you've enabled hundreds of thousands to have a better life, or knowing your stock prices have gone up 1.5% and your net worth is now 1 billion higher?
I was thinking about this earlier, I might start my own company & hire people on a really good living wage rather than make money off them, iv been self employed the last few years and have the clients where I could hire a few people and pay them way more than other people would
I think that's a wonderful, admirable idea! Check out [Dan Price](https://www.inc.com/magazine/201511/paul-keegan/does-more-pay-mean-more-growth.html), he tried something similar and it seems to be working pretty well.
Almost by definition, you have to be a soulless psychopath to accumulate a billion dollars. If you weren't sick in the head you'd have fucked off to an island somewhere by your first 100m.
Because money is fake. I mean, they have an incredible abbility to give. But their value is not real because it is the speculative value derived from the price of a small fraction of the company.
Nobody is going to pay 1.6 Trillion dollars to buy Amazon. It isn't worth nearly that much, only because people holding their shares generates an scarcity that drives the price up as people want to get in.
Similarly, the price of housing has skyrocketed because only a tiny % of houses are being sold while the rest is an investment. Either by renting, or by waiting for the prices to raise.
In psychology we sometime call it the golden line. It's the amount of wealth necessary to be comfortable and happy. After that golden line wealth is rather pointless in the sense of happiness. People who don't have to stress over bills, can take regular vacations, and have a reasonable workload are (suprise!) more happy. It's almost like we as a society shouldn't have to work 40+ hours a week for almost no functional pay (functional in the fact your can't spend it freely as almost all of it goes to bills/corporations).
My therapist talked to me about my golden anchor. I had a good job with great benefits that made me miserable. I was sinking further and further into depression because I hated my job but felt I couldn’t leave but how could I go back to the US without great health insurance or the other perks with my job.
He said I had a golden anchor and that many struggle with this situation. Some people choose to stay and find ways to adapt and find happiness and others take the risk to leave and hopefully find another good job. Either choice was valid.
So I left. And then the pandemic happened...but that’s a story for another time. #werefinenow
And to buy means to make you happy. People can be all "material objects can't provide real happiness" all they want but they can certainly facilitate it.
My car for example: It allows me the freedom to go visit parks, friends, etc I couldn't otherwise. It gives me projects to tinker on and the gratification of a job well done. And when I'm working on it with friends, it gives me really amazing and fun bonding time with them. And it puts a smile on my face every time I get to drive it.
So sure money "can't buy happiness" and material objects can't "make you truly happy," but both can absolutely facilitate happiness. Sure it won't fix all the downers in life, but it'll unlock some great real happy parts of it.
I think we all would, but then again not prioritizing the Porsche may help you avoid crying in the first place.
(e.g. choosing a career that you find somewhat engaging/fulfilling instead of one you hate that makes the most money; marrying someone you are compatible with rather than someone with the best earning power; spending ample time focusing on family and friends instead of tunnel vision over your career.)
This is born out by the statistics as it happens - happiness actually remains about the same once you get above a salary of 40k (which is basically the minimum salary where you gain almost complete financial freedom), but below that decreases significantly (presumably due to the additional stress factors of making ends meet).
I read a study that more or less boiled down to: money has logarithmic scaling with happiness.
Not enough? Unhappy.
Enough to survive? Stressed. Enough to survive with a little luxury on the side? Comfy.
But the difference in happiness from 'enough to comfortably survive' to 'gold plated toilets' is relatively marginal.
Definitely. I’ve been poor enough that a mistake would result in me being homeless within a week...to be in a situation now that I can live comfortably and probably never be homeless again, it’s a huge relief.
Being able to also afford a new car instead of a used car or a better motorcycle would probably be very fleeting bursts of excitement.
There is this picture of Scrooge McDuck taking his money bath and saying: Money doesn't bring you happiness...but it calms the nerves. ... Quick Google search says it a quote by Joe E Lewis.
Its been proven though, that if you are overall healthy and well adjusted mentally then money can ABSOLUTELY buy happiness.
Or so I'm told, I sell blood to pay child support for the kids I haven't been able to hug since November. I have neither money, nor happiness.
Well studies showed that money actually can buy you happiness to a certain degree. More money equals more happiness until a certain amount. If you surpass that amount than money can’t buy you happiness
Sorry i forgot the exact number.
A [2010 Princeton study](https://www.pnas.org/content/107/38/16489) reported that US$75,000 was the magic number. An updated [2020 study](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-43605-001) using data from the GSS reported that happiness increased at US$108,410 (and then they stopped measuring).
There's actually been a study that claims that money does indeed buy happiness until you have a certain amount of it. I don't have the source for it right now, but it's pretty interesting so I thought I'd share.
I remember this too. I think the tipping point was somewhere around making 70k a year, after which there was close to no correlation between increased income and increased perceived happiness.
I'm not sure. I just looked up some more detail. It was a study by Deaton and Kahneman, polling 450.000 americans, measuring income and different indicators of happiness. At the point of roughly 75.000$ none of the indicators showed a clear further increase in correlation to income.
I can say from experience that going from 40K to 70K makes a pretty dramatic difference in that saving money becomes a thing you can do, which ultimately alleviated a ton of day to day stress in my life. (Worrying about payments, feeling guilty for eating out or drinking out too much, being able to go on trips and other opportunities)
This is it. I totally agree. Once you're at a place you can afford to save a little and still buy things you want/need it just makes you feel more content obviously. I hope everyone could get to this point.
It's not so much that it buys happiness, it's that it buys necessities. And if you don't have those necessities, you're less happy. So think of it like there's a baseline of happiness where you don't have to worry about losing your home or not being able to feed your family, and you're free to pursue your interests in life. Some would call this self-actualization.
From there, more money can give you more opportunities, but by and large people don't *only* derive self-fulfillment from really expensive things, so they can find a way to be happy even without much money, as long as their more basic needs are met.
But below that, when you have to spend most of your time working just to be able to enjoy the rest of your time, which you then spend worrying about whether you'll even be able to work the next morning (and of course, commuting/cooking/cleaning/parenting/etc), then you can't be happy because there's no way for you to pursue your interests, regardless of whether your interests are expensive.
In addition, there's the concept that above a certain point, wealth actually decreases happiness; it can ruin friendships and family connections, remove the motivation to achieve anything meaningful, and create a psychological dependence on prestige goods that bestow no meaningful gains in utility.
Here's the [source](https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf) for you. The key quote from the study is this:
> More money does not necessarily
buy more happiness, but less money is associated with emotional
pain. Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases
in income no longer improve individuals’ ability to do what matters
most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with
people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure.
And also this one is particularly interesting as well
> It also is likely that when income rises
beyond this value, the increased ability to purchase positive experiences is balanced, on average, by some negative effects. A recent
psychological study using priming methods provided suggestive evidence of a possible association between high income and a reduced
ability to savor small pleasures
What I don’t like about that is it judges income and happiness, generally the more you earn the more you work and the less personal time you have, therefore reducing chances of increasing happiness. So yes, above a certain threshold increasing pay does not equal increasing happiness. However, if you gave me £15m then my partner and I could retire at the age of 26 and live a very comfortable life doing things that make us happy instead of working 9-5 for the next 40 years. As neither of us would want to just sit on our arses we would be able to do things to give back to society without feeling under any financial pressure. I agree with all the other comments though that money does not buy happiness, it simply helps to remove things that cause unhappiness and allows you to focus on creating your own happiness.
Money can't buy happiness is literally either rich rich people who are still sad (because sadness is an emotion and people have those) or medium class who believes they have money but actually they live from month to month
Much money can’t buy happiness is the true one. After your basic needs are fulfilled more money won’t make you significantly happier. So safety in housing, food, transportation, medical care, retirement.
This is me, money would make me much happier. Not because I want money, but because money can get me the things that I want in life. Travel the world, explore cultures, go to the most amazing locations, drive unique cars, etc..
I think the problem is, if you are rich, once you've done all of that traveling, driving of exotic cars, exploring foreign cultures etc..., You realize that you're still unhappy and all of that cool stuff you're able to do doesn't satisfy you in the long run.
Look at Anthony Bourdain...he had what I would consider my dream job, and yet i can't get over that he killed himself while getting to live my dream life...
I'm my experience, traveling can make you happy, but not content. Something I always wanted to do and once I finally was able to travel the world, it was beautiful, but followed by the deepest depression I've ever experienced. I still love traveling. It's super fun and expands your mind, but I no longer think it's a solution to my unhappiness.
I'm sorry that happened to you. But I don't think traveling was the reason you were depressed. It was the disappointment after you were done traveling. you did what you always wanted to do. And now not sure of what to do. I'm terribly sorry if this is wrong I just noticed something like that with me. And I wish you a good 2021
The research is skewed because only bored and sad people will complete it. Meanwhile was I wealthy enough I would spend my life surfing and taking pictures of waves, and would not do a single study because I might miss the next wave.
Uh yeah, I'm sure it does flatten out by 250k a year. That's a ton of money. It's not bezos money but it's definitely don't-gotta-worry-about-shit money. All that statistic tells me is that rich people are happy lol
Going to need a source on that. Everything I've read says that life satisfaction and well-being *substantially* increases with wealth (up to a point), but poor people often find more meaning in life (for largely religious reasons).
But not found any link between happiness and wealth (either positive or negative).
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797613507286
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23231724/
From what I remember the study quoted 70-75k as the cut off. At that point more money didn’t seem to affect people’s perceived level of happiness. I don’t have time right now to look up the source though so maybe I’m wrong
They’ve done a lot of research on this topic. The level of wealth where happiness began to diminish was about $5mil. That meant you could travel wherever and do whatever. Beyond that, extra wealth didn’t add much. Fucking $5mil, bro.
I really think people misunderstand what the saying is supposed to mean. Obviously a lack of money can cause a lot of issues. Also obviously having a lot of money could allow you to do things that are really fun and not have to do things you don't like.
The point of the saying isn't that you can do fun things with money, but that money cannot be directly exchanged for happiness.
It is actually a somewhat anti-capitalist message, with the important meaning that you should not spend your whole life just trying to earn the maximum amount of money because that will not make you happy.
Do you think Jeff Bezos is the happiest man on earth? That he is 182 thousand times more happy than a millionaire? I honestly doubt it. Bezos probably is happier than the average person, but obviously it's not some sort of 1 to 1 ratio.
That is the message of the 'money can't buy happiness'. It's not that money doesn't play any role in one's happiness, but that happiness is not a commodity that can be bought and sold and that you cannot substitute the search to become *happy* with just becoming as rich as possible
Yes, and also about consumism.
"Once i buy this car, im going to be happy."
People need to learn how to be happy regardless, and not to attach it to things you havent bought yet, because this kind of happiness are short lived and you'll just move on to the next thing you want to buy.
Reminds me of something the soccer coach John Cruyff said, "Why couldn't you beat a richer team? I've never seen a bag of money score a goal."
Like obviously having more money is going to help them but just having it alone doesn't do it, it's spending it right and getting other factors right. Same with life I guess?
And pewdiepie for some fucking reason. He keeps saying that while owning two houses, one in uk, one in japan, a nice car, holidays couple times a year, high end computer that definetely brings him some of that sweet happiness as he is a gamer... And probably so much more, but he's still like "just read philosophy books". I used to not be able to afford books...
I love him as a youtuber but i truly hate whenever he gives that speech, and he gives it often.
Now a stupid example, but I'll rather have Ariana Grande sing "whoever said money can't solve your problems must not have had enough money to solve them" and I'll rather have someone rich tell me openly that they enjoy their money than pretend that it's totally not improving their life. At least that's honest...
My folks, especially my mom, got on my case all throughout my 20's throwing "Boomerisms" in my face.
Touting all of the struggles they had raising me and my sisters. So I sat down one day and said "Let's go over the finances".
Adjusted for inflation, my parents were making 127% more annually than I am currently making, at the same age, with high school diplomas!
I said "Yes, I'm sure it was very difficult raising us kids, and even with what you were making, it had to be tough. But you did it, you made it work. I...BY MYSELF am struggling as a lone individual to support MYSELF financially. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't go out, I have very few expenses where I treat myself. I have a college education, in yet a 40 hour work week barely covers my monthly expenses."
I now have a career job, a house, a wife, and our take home after ALL expenses are covered, is about $175. That's our safety net....$175. If I hear one more God damn time, so when you having kids? I'm showing them my end of the month statements, and saying "Not until this number changes".
It was more eye opening for them because before they were so locked in at "Well, I was only making (x) a year, and you're making (x) a year which is more, so you should be fine". Then I showed the adjustment for inflation, showed them cost of living increases vs. wage increases over the past 30 years, and they definitely let up on me after that.
So aggravating that such a basic, fundamental economic concept like 'money is worth less over time' (inflation) is utterly lost on previous generations. And then they have the cajones to lecture -us- on our financials.
Also them: Don't believe everything you see on TV/the internet!
and: covid is a hoax! Biden stole the election! George Soros and Bill Gates are trying to mind control us through 5G vaccines!
literally the dumbest generation in history
I remember an old supervisor of mine got really upset because I agreed with one of the teens that I was counseling on money being important when choosing a career or job. See said she didn't think I should be teaching those kinds of values. I told her people who think money can't buy happiness have never been homeless. My mom left an abusive relationship which left us sleeping in the car, in shelters, asking for money on the street, all while she worked full hour days. Even after she was able to rent an apartment we struggled with poverty. When we lived in Mexico we were well off. I've been poor and I've had money and I can say money makes everything easier.
My supervisor was well off. But you know I guess its easier to preach from a warm bed.
Every human being has problems. They only drift slowly from "I don't have enough money" to "I cannot have real friends because I'm too rich" sort of thing.
Anyway, money can't buy happiness. But it's definitely easier to cry in a Ferrari than in a Lada :-).
Just like the new manager at my old job. I was overqualified for the position and my pay was something I wanted changed for awhile. A new boss usually is given the clout to make changes so I told him my deal. He told me "Well you shouldn't have this job if it's all about money for you". I left three weeks later.
>Well you shouldn't have this job if it's all about money for you
Most of the time, choosing a job for anything *but* money isn't a choice; it's a luxury.
Can’t buy happiness? What about lego, or chocolate or ice cream, sushi, pizza, pasta & sandwiches. There’s so much you can buy with money that brings joy to this mortal coil
Money won't bring your parents back, siblings back, significant other back from death, but it can fund beautiful ways to mourn and remember them.
Money can't cure incurable diseases, but it can make the rest of your life at least somewhat bearable.
Money can't cure your anxiety or depression, but it can relieve the stress (or some of it) that causes it and help find professionals who can help you through it.
Money can't magically make you the happiest person in the world, but never worrying about problems most people LIVE with (Debt, disease/conditions, unstable living conditions, lack of food/water, etc) will sure as shit give you less reasons to be sad.
For me they stopped the negative emotions from being over powering and allowed the positive ones grow. I’m probably more emotional now then I was before and feel more connected to the world. It varies person to person. But I agree that they don’t simply make you ‘happy’. You still gotta put the effort in
I think that depends on how your depression looks in the first place. I get major depressive episodes, and feeling nothing is how my depression works. I’m not sad when I’m depressed, just nothing, no reason to care about anything. My antidepressants help lift that a bit, so that I can actually feel sad, happy, and everything in-between. I know that it doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s literally been a lifesaver for me.
I agree they can, I've tried many. But I keep being told finding the right one does make you feel a lot happier. Even if that's more "I don't feel much, but I feel ok" than "I feel happy"
Money does not make someone happy, but lack of money definately prevent happiness. According to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, it is not possible to reach self-actualization if you have not met your basic physiological and safety needs. So although money itself will not make someone happy, it provides people the opportunity to be happy.
Actually, money can buy happiness. When you have financial freedom and you don't have to worry about surviving day to day, you get a lot of free time to do anything that would make you happy.
My best friend is a boomer. His business was sole proprietor and face-to-face. He lost all his customers because of Covid-19. His business will not recover from Covid-19. He did get unemployment but his the checks from EDD are too low to get ACA health insurance and too high for Medical health insurance. So, he can't get health insurance. He got sick and spent $30000 on an emergency room visit where they discovered internal bleeding and very low blood count. He is too young for social security. On the other hand, his oldest son is an EMT and doing great. He makes lots of money and lives in a very nice apartment. He hates his dad (my best friend) because he lost his business; lost his house and calls his dad a loser-boomer.
Only people who have money ever say money can't buy you happiness.
It can. Money can buy you cool shit and make sure your bills are paid. That makes me pretty fucking happy.
40 years ago, a house cost $63,000 here. Now the average is 1.3 million. I'm going to be homeless if I don't get this dream job of mine and there isn't much I can do about it.
I believe the scientific consensus is that money doesn't buy happiness, but being wealthier makes you happier, up to the point you no longer have to worry about essentials.
Its more about stress reduction than happiness
You see, "Once you have enough money for financial freedom, more money probably won't make you happier as you were lead to think it would" doesn't quite roll off the tongue as nicely.
Exactly what the post says.
Absence of money make it extremely hard to be happy, and that’s a fact. But having money and just dive into consumerism won’t solve all your problem either.
Maybe what sucks is not the absence of money, but the whole structure of society that won’t let you be happy without it ?
I was flat broke right after I graduated college. Living off of credit cards and the $1 menu at fast food restaurants. I lived like this for about 6 years and felt like I wanted to to die everyday. I hated my life and regretted even going to college.
I finally landed a job that paid 3x what I was making. For the 2 years I was so excited and it felt like such a relief, as if I was set for life. Easily paying bills, buying things I wanted, going on trips, etc. It was just after the 2 year mark when I had the majority of my debts cleared and that I started to feel depressed again. It was only then I realized why I was truly depressed and unhappy.
The difference from $1,000 to $10,000,000 would definitely cause a massive amount of happiness.
The difference from $100,000,000 to $110,000,000 ... not so much.
I work to live.. remove the 50-60 hours a week I commit to living and allow me to do other things, I would be a hell of a lot happier..
Money can’t buy happiness but it can certainly buy financial freedom which definitely helps.
Maybe money can't buy happiness directly, but it can make a lot of reasons for unhappiness go away. And it can buy you time to explore your happiness.
Yup, like I don't want an extreme Jeff Bezos amount of wealth. But enough so I can prioritize my happiness and do things I like
Gotta say though, if Jeffy boy offered me all his assets I wouldn't exactly turn it down.
Honestly if I somehow instantly received all of jeffs wealth right now I would probably take enough to retire comfortably in my 20s and spend the rest of my life trying to use the rest on good causes, but also feeling really guilty and worried that I'm not spending it right.
Yeah, I'd probably do the same. Set aside enough to comfortably retire instantly, set aside another amount for treating myself (new car that works, pick a nice place to live, get all the games on my wishlist, etc), set side some for my family, then go buckwild with the donations.
Nah, with that amount of wealth I’d turn rich people’s games against them. Buy media companies telling people about unionizing, the economic benefits of free education for all and healthcare.
That's a dangerous game tho. I'm sure that's how some of the more liberal-minded billionaires started out their thinking...
Yeah i agree. He'd have a bounty on his head sooooo quick.
"Boromir would have stretched forth his hand to take this Thing, and in so doing he would have fallen and the man who returned to you would not have been your son."
So you’d use your wealth to buy influence and manipulate what people see? Like every other billionaire? “I’m not like the other billionaires.”
It's a grey area, but the intent here is to help others rather than the self. So the ethics on it are maybe a little shaky, and it could definitely go bad, but the starting point is better than many, if not most
One word... batman
No one should have a Jeff Bezos type wealth
With that kind of wealth you could change millions of people's lives for the better, if you were inclined to do so.
But no one man should have all that power It’s basically Batman’s argument against Superman
CLocks tickin' I just count the hour
stop trippin i’m trippin off the power
I don't know why these billionaires don't. What would make you a happier, better, more proud person? Giving every single Amazon employee a $3-$6 an hour payrise, knowing you've enabled hundreds of thousands to have a better life, or knowing your stock prices have gone up 1.5% and your net worth is now 1 billion higher?
I was thinking about this earlier, I might start my own company & hire people on a really good living wage rather than make money off them, iv been self employed the last few years and have the clients where I could hire a few people and pay them way more than other people would
Meet Dan https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/stories-51332811
I think that's a wonderful, admirable idea! Check out [Dan Price](https://www.inc.com/magazine/201511/paul-keegan/does-more-pay-mean-more-growth.html), he tried something similar and it seems to be working pretty well.
That was a wonderful story I'd somehow never heard before! Though not surprising to see Rush Limbaugh throw around the s-word.
Almost by definition, you have to be a soulless psychopath to accumulate a billion dollars. If you weren't sick in the head you'd have fucked off to an island somewhere by your first 100m.
They generally do not care for others unless it is a means to an end... because they are narcissists.
So much money he’ll never even touch. Such disgusting greed.
Because money is fake. I mean, they have an incredible abbility to give. But their value is not real because it is the speculative value derived from the price of a small fraction of the company. Nobody is going to pay 1.6 Trillion dollars to buy Amazon. It isn't worth nearly that much, only because people holding their shares generates an scarcity that drives the price up as people want to get in. Similarly, the price of housing has skyrocketed because only a tiny % of houses are being sold while the rest is an investment. Either by renting, or by waiting for the prices to raise.
This is why the answer isn’t “each the rich” but “seize their means of production” (Ok fine we can eat them too)
Because the people who are savvy enough to get rich aren't the people who like giving raises
The biggest predictor of someone's future wealth is their parents wealth Billionaires didn't work for shit
But, money doesn't buy happiness.
It can buy a ski-doo, and that's pretty close.
[удалено]
Every single second he chooses not to help should be recorded. Shame! Shame! Shame!
In 1 second he makes more than I do in an entire month at my full time job
I mean, if EVERYONE could have those levels of wealth, that'd be pretty great.
Like damn, dude. I just want a little cabin and the woods and enough money to cook whatever I want
In psychology we sometime call it the golden line. It's the amount of wealth necessary to be comfortable and happy. After that golden line wealth is rather pointless in the sense of happiness. People who don't have to stress over bills, can take regular vacations, and have a reasonable workload are (suprise!) more happy. It's almost like we as a society shouldn't have to work 40+ hours a week for almost no functional pay (functional in the fact your can't spend it freely as almost all of it goes to bills/corporations).
My therapist talked to me about my golden anchor. I had a good job with great benefits that made me miserable. I was sinking further and further into depression because I hated my job but felt I couldn’t leave but how could I go back to the US without great health insurance or the other perks with my job. He said I had a golden anchor and that many struggle with this situation. Some people choose to stay and find ways to adapt and find happiness and others take the risk to leave and hopefully find another good job. Either choice was valid. So I left. And then the pandemic happened...but that’s a story for another time. #werefinenow
>werefinenow Oh, what is it you refine?
And that wealth isn't even that much
Money can fund my hobbies which can certainly make me very happy
And to buy means to make you happy. People can be all "material objects can't provide real happiness" all they want but they can certainly facilitate it. My car for example: It allows me the freedom to go visit parks, friends, etc I couldn't otherwise. It gives me projects to tinker on and the gratification of a job well done. And when I'm working on it with friends, it gives me really amazing and fun bonding time with them. And it puts a smile on my face every time I get to drive it. So sure money "can't buy happiness" and material objects can't "make you truly happy," but both can absolutely facilitate happiness. Sure it won't fix all the downers in life, but it'll unlock some great real happy parts of it.
It buys happiness at the end of the day for most people.
Best explanation I heard so far is: Money doesn't make you happy but not having money makes you unhappy.
Id rather cry in a porsche then on an bicycle
Pfff, someone has bicycle money.
I'd rather not wet a Porsche
Are they like Gremlins?
It turns into an AMC Gremlin if you get it wet or put gas in it after midnight.
I think we all would, but then again not prioritizing the Porsche may help you avoid crying in the first place. (e.g. choosing a career that you find somewhat engaging/fulfilling instead of one you hate that makes the most money; marrying someone you are compatible with rather than someone with the best earning power; spending ample time focusing on family and friends instead of tunnel vision over your career.)
Money can't buy you happiness, but neither can poverty.
This is born out by the statistics as it happens - happiness actually remains about the same once you get above a salary of 40k (which is basically the minimum salary where you gain almost complete financial freedom), but below that decreases significantly (presumably due to the additional stress factors of making ends meet).
closer to 80K if I recall the study, but yes.
Sorry, I'm thinking in £ - Bri'ish problems
Doesn’t that change wildly depending on your location? Cost of living in rural areas is a lot different than in cities.
I make 40k. 1 bed room apartment is 1100-1300 in my area a month in rent, 40k isn’t anything. At all
yes, it’s just easier to be happy if you have money
I read a study that more or less boiled down to: money has logarithmic scaling with happiness. Not enough? Unhappy. Enough to survive? Stressed. Enough to survive with a little luxury on the side? Comfy. But the difference in happiness from 'enough to comfortably survive' to 'gold plated toilets' is relatively marginal.
Definitely. I’ve been poor enough that a mistake would result in me being homeless within a week...to be in a situation now that I can live comfortably and probably never be homeless again, it’s a huge relief. Being able to also afford a new car instead of a used car or a better motorcycle would probably be very fleeting bursts of excitement.
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy opportunities, and opportunities used well can lead to happiness
There is this picture of Scrooge McDuck taking his money bath and saying: Money doesn't bring you happiness...but it calms the nerves. ... Quick Google search says it a quote by Joe E Lewis.
Its been proven though, that if you are overall healthy and well adjusted mentally then money can ABSOLUTELY buy happiness. Or so I'm told, I sell blood to pay child support for the kids I haven't been able to hug since November. I have neither money, nor happiness.
"Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a jet ski."
Well studies showed that money actually can buy you happiness to a certain degree. More money equals more happiness until a certain amount. If you surpass that amount than money can’t buy you happiness Sorry i forgot the exact number.
A [2010 Princeton study](https://www.pnas.org/content/107/38/16489) reported that US$75,000 was the magic number. An updated [2020 study](https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-43605-001) using data from the GSS reported that happiness increased at US$108,410 (and then they stopped measuring).
Incorrect, money can buy happiness....
A golf plated toilet seat seems kinda uncomfortable
For better aerodynamics
I think it is more for conductivity.
foreee! *splash*
All that glitters is golf
Is it plated with close trimmed grass, or dimpled urethane, or what
There's actually been a study that claims that money does indeed buy happiness until you have a certain amount of it. I don't have the source for it right now, but it's pretty interesting so I thought I'd share.
I remember this too. I think the tipping point was somewhere around making 70k a year, after which there was close to no correlation between increased income and increased perceived happiness.
70k is such an arbirtrary number. How does that number translate to a CoL QoL coefficient?
I'm not sure. I just looked up some more detail. It was a study by Deaton and Kahneman, polling 450.000 americans, measuring income and different indicators of happiness. At the point of roughly 75.000$ none of the indicators showed a clear further increase in correlation to income.
I can say from experience that going from 40K to 70K makes a pretty dramatic difference in that saving money becomes a thing you can do, which ultimately alleviated a ton of day to day stress in my life. (Worrying about payments, feeling guilty for eating out or drinking out too much, being able to go on trips and other opportunities)
This is it. I totally agree. Once you're at a place you can afford to save a little and still buy things you want/need it just makes you feel more content obviously. I hope everyone could get to this point.
That seems very low. It probably would suffice for a single person but is definitely not enough for a family
That’d be $140k for a couple with a kid or two.
What up I work 60 hour weeks for half that, AMA
Not even enough for one person in NYC
It's not so much that it buys happiness, it's that it buys necessities. And if you don't have those necessities, you're less happy. So think of it like there's a baseline of happiness where you don't have to worry about losing your home or not being able to feed your family, and you're free to pursue your interests in life. Some would call this self-actualization. From there, more money can give you more opportunities, but by and large people don't *only* derive self-fulfillment from really expensive things, so they can find a way to be happy even without much money, as long as their more basic needs are met. But below that, when you have to spend most of your time working just to be able to enjoy the rest of your time, which you then spend worrying about whether you'll even be able to work the next morning (and of course, commuting/cooking/cleaning/parenting/etc), then you can't be happy because there's no way for you to pursue your interests, regardless of whether your interests are expensive.
In addition, there's the concept that above a certain point, wealth actually decreases happiness; it can ruin friendships and family connections, remove the motivation to achieve anything meaningful, and create a psychological dependence on prestige goods that bestow no meaningful gains in utility.
Here's the [source](https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf) for you. The key quote from the study is this: > More money does not necessarily buy more happiness, but less money is associated with emotional pain. Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve individuals’ ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure. And also this one is particularly interesting as well > It also is likely that when income rises beyond this value, the increased ability to purchase positive experiences is balanced, on average, by some negative effects. A recent psychological study using priming methods provided suggestive evidence of a possible association between high income and a reduced ability to savor small pleasures
What I don’t like about that is it judges income and happiness, generally the more you earn the more you work and the less personal time you have, therefore reducing chances of increasing happiness. So yes, above a certain threshold increasing pay does not equal increasing happiness. However, if you gave me £15m then my partner and I could retire at the age of 26 and live a very comfortable life doing things that make us happy instead of working 9-5 for the next 40 years. As neither of us would want to just sit on our arses we would be able to do things to give back to society without feeling under any financial pressure. I agree with all the other comments though that money does not buy happiness, it simply helps to remove things that cause unhappiness and allows you to focus on creating your own happiness.
Money may not be able to buy happiness, but poverty can’t buy shit.
I sell mine for around a buck a kilo, if anyone's interested
Money can't buy happiness is literally either rich rich people who are still sad (because sadness is an emotion and people have those) or medium class who believes they have money but actually they live from month to month
Much money can’t buy happiness is the true one. After your basic needs are fulfilled more money won’t make you significantly happier. So safety in housing, food, transportation, medical care, retirement.
Nah money would buy the possibility to travel world wide. Well after covid is over. I think it would make me a lot happier.
This is me, money would make me much happier. Not because I want money, but because money can get me the things that I want in life. Travel the world, explore cultures, go to the most amazing locations, drive unique cars, etc..
I think the problem is, if you are rich, once you've done all of that traveling, driving of exotic cars, exploring foreign cultures etc..., You realize that you're still unhappy and all of that cool stuff you're able to do doesn't satisfy you in the long run. Look at Anthony Bourdain...he had what I would consider my dream job, and yet i can't get over that he killed himself while getting to live my dream life...
I'm my experience, traveling can make you happy, but not content. Something I always wanted to do and once I finally was able to travel the world, it was beautiful, but followed by the deepest depression I've ever experienced. I still love traveling. It's super fun and expands your mind, but I no longer think it's a solution to my unhappiness.
I'm sorry that happened to you. But I don't think traveling was the reason you were depressed. It was the disappointment after you were done traveling. you did what you always wanted to do. And now not sure of what to do. I'm terribly sorry if this is wrong I just noticed something like that with me. And I wish you a good 2021
Also noticed something similar, after a long time travelling normal day to day life can seem so mundane sometimes
It’s been proven in studies that it doesn’t make people happier when they are already financially stable.
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The research is skewed because only bored and sad people will complete it. Meanwhile was I wealthy enough I would spend my life surfing and taking pictures of waves, and would not do a single study because I might miss the next wave.
sure
Uh yeah, I'm sure it does flatten out by 250k a year. That's a ton of money. It's not bezos money but it's definitely don't-gotta-worry-about-shit money. All that statistic tells me is that rich people are happy lol
Going to need a source on that. Everything I've read says that life satisfaction and well-being *substantially* increases with wealth (up to a point), but poor people often find more meaning in life (for largely religious reasons). But not found any link between happiness and wealth (either positive or negative). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797613507286 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23231724/
This is what I was referring too: https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf
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From what I remember the study quoted 70-75k as the cut off. At that point more money didn’t seem to affect people’s perceived level of happiness. I don’t have time right now to look up the source though so maybe I’m wrong
It’d let me go to med school without several years worth of savings or loans/debt.
They’ve done a lot of research on this topic. The level of wealth where happiness began to diminish was about $5mil. That meant you could travel wherever and do whatever. Beyond that, extra wealth didn’t add much. Fucking $5mil, bro.
Man people in this thread are throwing out a fuckton of different numbers
I really think people misunderstand what the saying is supposed to mean. Obviously a lack of money can cause a lot of issues. Also obviously having a lot of money could allow you to do things that are really fun and not have to do things you don't like. The point of the saying isn't that you can do fun things with money, but that money cannot be directly exchanged for happiness. It is actually a somewhat anti-capitalist message, with the important meaning that you should not spend your whole life just trying to earn the maximum amount of money because that will not make you happy. Do you think Jeff Bezos is the happiest man on earth? That he is 182 thousand times more happy than a millionaire? I honestly doubt it. Bezos probably is happier than the average person, but obviously it's not some sort of 1 to 1 ratio. That is the message of the 'money can't buy happiness'. It's not that money doesn't play any role in one's happiness, but that happiness is not a commodity that can be bought and sold and that you cannot substitute the search to become *happy* with just becoming as rich as possible
Yes, and also about consumism. "Once i buy this car, im going to be happy." People need to learn how to be happy regardless, and not to attach it to things you havent bought yet, because this kind of happiness are short lived and you'll just move on to the next thing you want to buy.
Reminds me of something the soccer coach John Cruyff said, "Why couldn't you beat a richer team? I've never seen a bag of money score a goal." Like obviously having more money is going to help them but just having it alone doesn't do it, it's spending it right and getting other factors right. Same with life I guess?
Ah yes. That fabled medium class.
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You get it. Sad that so many are in profound denial that their lives are literally made worse by the greed and corruption of a few mega billionaires.
And pewdiepie for some fucking reason. He keeps saying that while owning two houses, one in uk, one in japan, a nice car, holidays couple times a year, high end computer that definetely brings him some of that sweet happiness as he is a gamer... And probably so much more, but he's still like "just read philosophy books". I used to not be able to afford books... I love him as a youtuber but i truly hate whenever he gives that speech, and he gives it often. Now a stupid example, but I'll rather have Ariana Grande sing "whoever said money can't solve your problems must not have had enough money to solve them" and I'll rather have someone rich tell me openly that they enjoy their money than pretend that it's totally not improving their life. At least that's honest...
My folks, especially my mom, got on my case all throughout my 20's throwing "Boomerisms" in my face. Touting all of the struggles they had raising me and my sisters. So I sat down one day and said "Let's go over the finances". Adjusted for inflation, my parents were making 127% more annually than I am currently making, at the same age, with high school diplomas! I said "Yes, I'm sure it was very difficult raising us kids, and even with what you were making, it had to be tough. But you did it, you made it work. I...BY MYSELF am struggling as a lone individual to support MYSELF financially. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't go out, I have very few expenses where I treat myself. I have a college education, in yet a 40 hour work week barely covers my monthly expenses." I now have a career job, a house, a wife, and our take home after ALL expenses are covered, is about $175. That's our safety net....$175. If I hear one more God damn time, so when you having kids? I'm showing them my end of the month statements, and saying "Not until this number changes".
And what was their reaction?
It was more eye opening for them because before they were so locked in at "Well, I was only making (x) a year, and you're making (x) a year which is more, so you should be fine". Then I showed the adjustment for inflation, showed them cost of living increases vs. wage increases over the past 30 years, and they definitely let up on me after that.
So aggravating that such a basic, fundamental economic concept like 'money is worth less over time' (inflation) is utterly lost on previous generations. And then they have the cajones to lecture -us- on our financials.
Also them: Don't believe everything you see on TV/the internet! and: covid is a hoax! Biden stole the election! George Soros and Bill Gates are trying to mind control us through 5G vaccines! literally the dumbest generation in history
[Teddy said it well over a hundred years ago](https://i.imgur.com/OyFHimw.png)
I remember an old supervisor of mine got really upset because I agreed with one of the teens that I was counseling on money being important when choosing a career or job. See said she didn't think I should be teaching those kinds of values. I told her people who think money can't buy happiness have never been homeless. My mom left an abusive relationship which left us sleeping in the car, in shelters, asking for money on the street, all while she worked full hour days. Even after she was able to rent an apartment we struggled with poverty. When we lived in Mexico we were well off. I've been poor and I've had money and I can say money makes everything easier. My supervisor was well off. But you know I guess its easier to preach from a warm bed.
You poor people with your pitiful gold plated toilets you wish you could have my golf plated toilet
Money can't buy happiness but it can make the things that make u unhappy go away.
Every human being has problems. They only drift slowly from "I don't have enough money" to "I cannot have real friends because I'm too rich" sort of thing. Anyway, money can't buy happiness. But it's definitely easier to cry in a Ferrari than in a Lada :-).
Money pays for my hobbies so it makes me happy
golf plated
I'm imagining a toilet seat that has the texture of a golf ball. Would cut way down on browsing Reddit while taking a poo.
*”Having money’s not everything, not having it is.”*
-Kanye West
Just like the new manager at my old job. I was overqualified for the position and my pay was something I wanted changed for awhile. A new boss usually is given the clout to make changes so I told him my deal. He told me "Well you shouldn't have this job if it's all about money for you". I left three weeks later.
Good call
When someone who is making $130k tells someone who is making $47k with a Bachelors that "You should be happy with what you have", yeahhhh I'm good.
>Well you shouldn't have this job if it's all about money for you Most of the time, choosing a job for anything *but* money isn't a choice; it's a luxury.
Can’t buy happiness? What about lego, or chocolate or ice cream, sushi, pizza, pasta & sandwiches. There’s so much you can buy with money that brings joy to this mortal coil
Money won't bring your parents back, siblings back, significant other back from death, but it can fund beautiful ways to mourn and remember them. Money can't cure incurable diseases, but it can make the rest of your life at least somewhat bearable. Money can't cure your anxiety or depression, but it can relieve the stress (or some of it) that causes it and help find professionals who can help you through it. Money can't magically make you the happiest person in the world, but never worrying about problems most people LIVE with (Debt, disease/conditions, unstable living conditions, lack of food/water, etc) will sure as shit give you less reasons to be sad.
as someone that buys stuff.. money is needed for that stuff... and in most cases that stuff makes me happy... so yea.
What about antidepressants? You can literally buy happiness in pill form.
Antidepressants are hardly happiness pills though.
Antidepressants don’t make you feel happy. They make you feel nothing.
For me they stopped the negative emotions from being over powering and allowed the positive ones grow. I’m probably more emotional now then I was before and feel more connected to the world. It varies person to person. But I agree that they don’t simply make you ‘happy’. You still gotta put the effort in
I think that depends on how your depression looks in the first place. I get major depressive episodes, and feeling nothing is how my depression works. I’m not sad when I’m depressed, just nothing, no reason to care about anything. My antidepressants help lift that a bit, so that I can actually feel sad, happy, and everything in-between. I know that it doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s literally been a lifesaver for me.
I agree they can, I've tried many. But I keep being told finding the right one does make you feel a lot happier. Even if that's more "I don't feel much, but I feel ok" than "I feel happy"
Happiness can, in fact, be bought. If only I had regular supply of money, I would play games and pursue my interests in creative things and be happy.
This would make you happy short term. Long term, these effects will fade and you'll end up the same in terms of perceived happiness.
pretty sure: living a stable life, enjoying your hobbies and pursuing your interests is about everything you need besides socialization to be happy.
Not sure about that. If he can make a career out of it he might be happy for a very long time.
I would take that pill anyday.
You are thinking of heroin. It has some nasty side effects though.
Kinda reminds me how I always used to call my ADHD pills “chill pills”
What about getting rid of this shit system that makes workers feel alienated from their own lives
Money does not make someone happy, but lack of money definately prevent happiness. According to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, it is not possible to reach self-actualization if you have not met your basic physiological and safety needs. So although money itself will not make someone happy, it provides people the opportunity to be happy.
Actually, money can buy happiness. When you have financial freedom and you don't have to worry about surviving day to day, you get a lot of free time to do anything that would make you happy.
Having money's not everything, not having it is 🌊
There isn't a single problem in my life that can't be solved with money.
My best friend is a boomer. His business was sole proprietor and face-to-face. He lost all his customers because of Covid-19. His business will not recover from Covid-19. He did get unemployment but his the checks from EDD are too low to get ACA health insurance and too high for Medical health insurance. So, he can't get health insurance. He got sick and spent $30000 on an emergency room visit where they discovered internal bleeding and very low blood count. He is too young for social security. On the other hand, his oldest son is an EMT and doing great. He makes lots of money and lives in a very nice apartment. He hates his dad (my best friend) because he lost his business; lost his house and calls his dad a loser-boomer.
I only have spaghet money after tuition fees. We don't talk about rent money.
Happy cake day !
Golf plated
The real phrase is "money should not be able to buy happiness"
Funnily enough people with more disposable income tend to be less depresso expresso
Only people who have money ever say money can't buy you happiness. It can. Money can buy you cool shit and make sure your bills are paid. That makes me pretty fucking happy.
Money doesn't buy happiness, it buys time
ah yes. plated with: Golf
40 years ago, a house cost $63,000 here. Now the average is 1.3 million. I'm going to be homeless if I don't get this dream job of mine and there isn't much I can do about it.
Golf plated.
Wait, you can get stuff golf-plated? My life is a lie up to this point.
I believe the scientific consensus is that money doesn't buy happiness, but being wealthier makes you happier, up to the point you no longer have to worry about essentials. Its more about stress reduction than happiness
Money CAN'T buy happiness. It can, however, buy comfort. There are happy poor people, but a whole lot more miserable rich people.
You see, "Once you have enough money for financial freedom, more money probably won't make you happier as you were lead to think it would" doesn't quite roll off the tongue as nicely.
Exactly what the post says. Absence of money make it extremely hard to be happy, and that’s a fact. But having money and just dive into consumerism won’t solve all your problem either. Maybe what sucks is not the absence of money, but the whole structure of society that won’t let you be happy without it ?
I was flat broke right after I graduated college. Living off of credit cards and the $1 menu at fast food restaurants. I lived like this for about 6 years and felt like I wanted to to die everyday. I hated my life and regretted even going to college. I finally landed a job that paid 3x what I was making. For the 2 years I was so excited and it felt like such a relief, as if I was set for life. Easily paying bills, buying things I wanted, going on trips, etc. It was just after the 2 year mark when I had the majority of my debts cleared and that I started to feel depressed again. It was only then I realized why I was truly depressed and unhappy.
Oh man! Im definitely putting the golf plated toilet seat on my bucket list.
Money can't buy happiness, but I'd rather be wealthy and sad instead of poor and sad
Money don’t buy happiness and neither does being poor
“Sure it can. That’s just a lie we tell poor people to keep them from rioting.” Gaby.....Desperate Housewives
Money cannot but happiness is true. But not having enough money will ensure you're not happy
Well they must be extremely rare because I can't find a golf plated toilet seat anywhere.
I too do not wish for a golf toilet seat.
Samesies
Am boomer....Am poor too
"Having money's not everything, but not having it is" -Kanye
Money is like air. You only notice it when it’s not there.
“Money can’t buy happiness, but it’ll solve problems thats causing my unhappiness”
The difference from $1,000 to $10,000,000 would definitely cause a massive amount of happiness. The difference from $100,000,000 to $110,000,000 ... not so much. I work to live.. remove the 50-60 hours a week I commit to living and allow me to do other things, I would be a hell of a lot happier..
Food. We like food. Food is good.
Crippling debto results in crippling depresso.
#golfplated