It turns out money does buy happiness
At least up to a certain point...
Just like the EverClear front man said in that song:
“I hate those people who love to tell you
Money is the root of all that kills
They have never been poor
They have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas”
A recent Pew survey found that happiness does increase with income; those who said they were "very happy" increased consistently with income, from 24% in the under-$30,000 income category to 49% in the $100,000-plus category. There was a “diminishing marginal return” over a certain point on the income level where there was not a significant increase in happiness with increased income—(right around the 100k mark)….but just like everyone has instinctively known all along, if you are barely making ends meet struggling to pay bills and keep food on the table, you might not be as “happy” as the guy down the street making 100k. (Surprise!)
What is really frustrating is that this study was presented to confirm that in fact, “Money can’t buy happiness.” How can the researchers take the clear data that show the percentage of people reporting that they are “very happy,” increased in direct proportion with income to mean that money doesn’t buy happiness?
Life isn't about money, and I certainly cannot claim to have a unique and authentic poverty story, but just like we all have instinctively known, there is a certain amount of happiness that comes with living without fear of starvation or collection calls with a comfortable roof over head, a bit financial freedom buys a bit of happiness...
Just like the EverClear front man said in that song:
“I hate those people who love to tell you
Money is the root of all that kills
They have never been poor
They have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas”
A recent Pew survey found that happiness does increase with income; those who said they were "very happy" increased consistently with income, from 24% in the under-$30,000 income category to 49% in the $100,000-plus category. There was a “diminishing marginal return” over a certain point on the income level where there was not a significant increase in happiness with increased income—(right around the 100k mark)….but just like everyone has instinctively known all along, if you are barely making ends meet struggling to pay bills and keep food on the table, you might not be as “happy” as the guy down the street making 100k. (Surprise!)
What is really frustrating is that this study was presented to confirm that in fact, “Money can’t buy happiness.” How can the researchers take the clear data that show the percentage of people reporting that they are “very happy,” increased in direct proportion with income to mean that money doesn’t buy happiness?
Life isn't about money, and I certainly cannot claim to have a unique and authentic poverty story, but just like we all have instinctively known, there is a certain amount of happiness that comes with living without fear of starvation or collection calls with a comfortable roof over head, a bit financial freedom buys a bit of happiness...
posted by djobe at 9:46 PM
1 Comments:
More like, a bit of financial freedom buys piece of mind. It doesn't sound as good, but it's more truthful.
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