Whosoever says that money cannot buy happiness must be shown the results of a recently published survey titled “The expanding class divide in happiness in the United States, 1972–2016”. The report published in The Washington Post highlights how money can buy happiness. The findings of the report are based on the survey carried out by Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman along with Princeton University's Matthew Killingsworth.
The new study disputed 2010 research that claimed happiness can only be increased by money up to a certain level, which was then estimated to be around $75,000 in annual earnings. One of the aforementioned authors, Daniel Kahneman was also involved in the previous study pursuant to which the founder of a credit card company had raised his employees’ wages to a minimum of $ 70,000.
The debate surrounding money and happiness is old as many intellectuals disregard the importance of money. However, pragmatic people have always continued to reinforce their beliefs about how money can buy freedom – the freedom to choose the life you want to live, which in turn is a big requisite for happiness.
According to the report, the new study was released this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The two researchers polled approximately 33,391 US residents between the ages of 18 and 65 for the study. Most of the people surveyed earned more than $10,000 per annum. The results of this study show that happiness increases with income, up to $500,000 per year.
One of the authors of the survey Killingsworth said, “Just one of the many determinants of happiness. Money is not the secret to happiness, but it can probably help a bit.”
In today’s times of increasing costs, many people are dissatisfied with their pay that does not commensurate with their expenses. This explains why so many people feel compelled to jump many jobs during their employment tenure so as to be able to pay for their expenses.
Earning money is not enough; the key to having enough money in savings is to ensure well-meant investments. However, a lot also depends on one’s risk appetite and attitude towards money. There is no straight answer to the question “How much money is enough?”. However, you must always consider your income, savings, daily expenditure, assets, loans and liabilities before deciding which investments would suit you best.
Money may not buy you happiness, but it will surely help you find the way to happiness. True, that money does not solve all problems either. But, as the famous saying goes, “Money equals freedom, the highest form of happiness. Money equals pleasure. The more you have the more pleasurable life is. People with money can never know what it is like to be without money.”
