There was a discussion on FB about this article so I thought I'd share it here also. [cnbc.com] Supposedly the magic number is $75,000.00 to be 'happy'. The article is titled "Here’s how much money you need to be happy, according to a new analysis by wealth experts"
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Sadly, in my area of the country you need to make $22.77 an hour just for the basics. That's to cover a two bedroom apartment, a car and food, etc. Try doing that on $8.50 an hour and not getting more than 20 hours a week. The 75K number is nice but doesn't cover the vast majority of working poor in this country.
BillF
Level 7
Feb 2, 2019
1
That is exactly why that number jumped out at me. And the findings were from 2010. So things have only gotten worse for many Americans.
That might be true for people that equate money and things to happiness. It's a good thing I don't, since it looks like I'll just be poor person. Good thing I know how to do that well. Lol
sewchick57
Level 7
Feb 2, 2019
1
And since the entire article is focused on an article from 2010 from a study by an economist.....the framing of the question matters, right? I found it very interesting also to see how 'the other half lives' (well, less than half....) and wondered how they could possibly feel 'anxious' or 'unhappy' about life like the rest of us often do. But the more I thought about it, the more money that you have and depend on, the more you'd fall apart if it was taken from you or greatly reduced. The fear of making less than $75,000 is motivating enough for the wealthy.....ha.
and still be happy.
@jlynn37 I'm the happiest I've been in my whole life.
It's not so much that one is happy because they have that much money, but happy because that much money takes care of everything that would worry you otherwise by not having it. And if memory serves, the 75 grand number was from a few years go. It's probably 80 or 85 by now.
greyeyed123
Level 7
Feb 2, 2019
2
Yes, that is what I also think. This idea of happy ends up being defined as "economically secure". And this is only one aspect of 'happiness'. I suppose we need a good working definition of what happy means.
@mojo5501 If you look at it terms of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, economic security would be needed for the foundation of all the others. The less and less money you have, the less and less likely you are to have any level of those needs, much less the highest levels. Even something like "love and belonging" is difficult to achieve if you have no secure home, no guarantee of food, etc.
@greyeyed123 Thank you for sharing that. I will provide a graph that I located: [pinterest.com]
What if you only have 2 thirds of that? Are you happy?
DenoPenno
Level 9
Feb 2, 2019
0
You are one third less happy, if I did my math correctly, lol. I didn't read the link, but I have read about this before. There is research that indicates people are happier when they have enough money to be comfortable and without any financial worries. There is also evidence that making enormous amounts of money above that does not make one any happier.
I think the point of the article is that the wealthy people are no more happy with $400,000 than they are with $75,000. Or that was my takeaway anyhow. (My jokey response would be "Give me a chance to find out for myself"..."I'll be a guinea pig in THIS social experiment"...ha)
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