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Not having to make decisions about whether to buy something or not, not having to save up for relatively minor purchases, and the ability to buy luxuries without any guilt is a huge stress reliever. Actually having a little spare cash in the bank instead of living paycheque to paycheque does wonders for quality of life.
Yes. As a kid I worried we’d lose our house. This was justified since we were always 3 months behind on rent and sometimes our power was cut. It helped me develop a nice anxiety disorder.
Now I have a 6 month emergency fund and a home I own that will be paid off in the next 8 years. It makes me VERY happy.
My income recently doubled as I was declared 100% disabled by the VA system. I don’t worry about late payments anymore and bought Ribeyes over Sirloin. More happy? Not really. I still have the same old problems with marriage, kids and grandkids.
Happier? In a sense that there was not constant worry about where to allocate funds or what to say no to with children. Yes, when I was able to be in a better, safer place to raise my kids.
Yes, to a limited extent. Once I wasn’t having to worry every month about an unexpected bill wrecking my finances I was happier. It was one less source of day-to-day anxiety that makes life hard.
It made me less worried about money, plus it allowed me to do things that I’d historically said “No, I can’t afford to X” (like travel or hobbies).
So I’d say “yes”.
It’s not a magic switch that makes you happy, but I’m not stressed about food, I’m not worried about my car breaking down or my lights getting cut off and those are big quality of life anxieties.
Once I had the basics and could save some, more money didn’t make much difference. I’d trade money for health. And people saying you can get healthcare with more money, not always. No personal amount of money will cure my rare disease. When the incidence rate is 1/100,000 there is no magic pill that money can provide.
Absolutely. Not having to worry about making your bills from one month to the next makes a big difference in happiness levels. I don’t need to be rich to be happy. But being about to relax and enjoy the life I do have instead of stressing over money is a pretty big deal.
Money 💰 makes life easier not happier. You’re either happy or your not. Whether we were living paycheck to paycheck or later in life having things, i chose to be happy. 46 years later, we can travel if we want. Eat out once or twice a week,, see friends on the weekend. I don’t have everything I wanted when I was younger but I’m happy where I’m at.
Sort of. Happier in the sense that we weren’t living paycheck to paycheck and concerned about bills etc. at a certain point not only did I not worry about bills but had enough disposable that I could buy whatever I wanted (within reason of course). We are still pretty frugal though.
Yes. More money made life easier and in turn made us happier. The more we acquired the happier we were. When you’re not stressed about paying bills, working OT to survive, cutting costs and amenities etc you have more time to do the things you like and in turn it was an overall mood boost.
Indirectly, having all the debts paid off is a huge weight off your shoulders. It’s not that I’m making more money, it’s that I have less bills each month.
In a nutshell, yes. But it can’t bring internal happiness. It makes life exponentially easier and provides you with more options and opportunities. It alleviates the worry and wondering about how xyz will be paid and when. It takes away the uncertainty of emergencies and how to pay for them. As a result of this, a level of happiness follows. However, if you weren’t an internally happy person before money, you will not be happy with money either.
But also, with every level, there is a new devil. It brings its own challenges and problems as well. However, I would say that we are overall happier with it than without it.
More money… didn’t make life easier, just changed the type of stresses one experiences …
little money = worries of meeting basic needs & responsibilities. More money = worries of meeting expectations and responsibilities that maintain the increased income level.
I don’t know that more money actually made me happier, but being in debt with a low income sure did make me UNhappy. It was stressful and depressing and I felt so trapped. So, finally getting traction and climbing out of that cycle made the UNhappy feeling much better …. so, yeah. I guess so.
More money made me less stressed, allowed me to focus on my wife and kids from when they were born, allowed her to stay home with them for several years, allowed the kids ,more college flexibility (we don’t have THAT kind of money!), and allow us to take a couple of affordable vacations per year without messing up our saving for retirement.
Before, I shopped at the local bodega and would buy 2 bricks of ramen noodles containing about 10 packs apiece. I lived on ramen, steamed rice, carrots, black beans and the worst tuna you’ve ever smelt for about 5 years. New clothes came from Goodwill and a hyper local thrift store. I also once took Bass Weejuns out of someone else’s trash and took them home.
Now while I like to think that job satisfaction, career growth, good friends and a loving partner are enough, I can tell you for experience that money helps out a LOT. This comment stuck with me, “Money can’t buy everything. But poverty can’t buy anything.“
Getting out of actual poverty like truly not having enough food and having to stay in a single bedroom with 3 kids at a relatives poor made being happier easier.
Getting to the point where being debt free completely, having great vacations, and looking for my dream home? Not some much because as soon as that tipping point was reached my ex-husband decided I was dead weight who did nothing for him. I watched money inflate his ego to the point very literally decided sleeping in my car was better than living in the same house as him.
What I’ve seen personally is money gives you freedom to be more of whatever type of person you already were. My ex was always a douche but money gave him power to douche harder and he douched like a boss.
The money didn’t make me happier but the opportunities it provided put me in a position where I could make my family and others happy. At the end of the day like others have said, money was just a tool
100%… once I hit the point when my investments have the ability to pay for all of my monthly living costs the stress in my life decreased massively. I became a better father, husband, friend, and employee without financial stress in my life.
Absolutely it made me happier for many reasons including alleviating stress over potentially not having money for bills.
It also buys great experiences and nice things that make my life easier and more comfortable.
I don’t worry about access to good medical care or needing a new appliance and within reason I can buy anything that I want or need. I am not especially into things so I am not out there shopping but if I need a new iphone or computer or quality vacuum cleaner, I can just buy exactly what I want and need.
I also get gratification from being generous which brings me happiness. I “overpay” my cleaning lady and give her generous gifts. I tip everyone a lot because they are hard working people and my large tip enhances their life more and it doesn’t make any dent in my living standards. I also give to charities that I support.
I don’t strive to be a billionaire or covet large homes or a Maserati or anything else that is a “status” object because I don’t care. No one knows or suspects my financial position which is fine with me.
I can also see how being “comfortable” in retirement makes a huge difference and you need a certain income level to achieve that. My father was able to move into a very nice “retirement hotel” and in the last two years of his life, he was able to afford a 24/7 companion to assist with things which made his life safer and more comfortable.
Yes. 100%. Not having to worry about making ends meet is a huge weight off the shoulders. Having money in the bank to handle the stuff that inevitably comes up is huge. And having the money to do fun things, have some luxuries if I want them is great.
I’m disabled and live below the poverty line on SSDI. I used to have a terrific job that I loved, working on movies. Between them, I had time to work in my studio, in the house that I used to own. I had to spend all my savings and 401K before I could get Disability.
Due to lack of Disabled/Affordable Housing, rent and bills eat up my entire check. The next rent hike will make me homeless, and I can’t save up to move because there is no money. I have no social life, because I can’t even afford a cup of coffee, it’s been 20 years since I had my hair cut at a salon, if I need dental/eye care, I can’t afford it, and I’m patching old clothes.
Not worrying about if one small thing will make you homeless, or if your cat gets sick, or if you can afford meds, being able to afford to go out, to create things, to buy presents rather than always having to make them….that is an ease of life that I truly miss. Stress is also a silent killer.
Yes, to be free of anxiety was transformative. I actually get a little giddy when I respond to the mechanic’s suggestion of something needed; go for it!
Inherited a considerable (to paycheck-to-paycheck me) amount, and while it didn’t directly make me happier, at least not yet, it did let me relax just a little.
Having enough money that putting food on the table and a roof overhead can be taken for granted eliminates a great deal of stress. Money beyond that level has diminishing returns.
My family was poor as I grew up, but we didn’t know it. As a young man, I made a meager paycheck with the military. After I left the military, I struggled with a small paycheck for a few years and then I entered the technical field and quadruppled my paycheck and it’s been growing ever since. I started my own business years ago and recently retired. I am debt free and my wife and I live well. We are far from wealthy, but we have more than we need and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Not having to worry about money is a big relief.
It made me healthier, wiser and able to have a lot more fun. Good healthcare and better food, a college education, vacations.
It doesn’t make you a nicer, better person, a more devoted parent or spouse. And it doesn’t make you forget sad or bad things. It can’t make you less lazy or motivated, ambitious or dedicated.
Money isn’t a life’s purpose or an action plan. It’s a tool and like all tools, its use can help or hurt you.
I would say that there is a difference between something making you happier and something making negative feelings less common. More money didn’t make me happier, but it did make me less anxious, insecure, and depressed.
I grew up very poor such that we were completely broke at the end of the month and going around trying to find bottles to turn in for deposit so we could get milk or gas for the car. Keep in mind that poor people didn’t have credit cards in the past. It’s not like you could charge and pay it back when you got paid. It was the kind of life where you had to look at the prices and add it all up because you only had so much in the bank and you didn’t want to overdraw on your checking account.
My husband and I are comfortable financially right now and it’s very freeing not to have to fret over every penny you spend or to know that, if there is a plumbing problem that you can afford to pay the bill without worrying about not having enough for other bills. This doesn’t mean I’m “happy”. I’m just less stressed out and worried on a regular basis. It’s more like “relief.”
No. It did cut down on my stress. I feel less of a burden to pay bills, mortgage, and save for the future. But that did not make me happy.
What made me happy was working on myself. That started with getting sober, and also years of therapy to work on my issues. Over the years, that is what made me happier.
Money provides an avenue to things that may very well make you happy. But happiness is relative and personal.
However, with a bit extra, some folks might recognize the dream of homeowership or being able to afford sports or college educations for their children
It allows for charitable and philanthropic donations and the time to volunteer.
Or, helping grown kids purchase a first house and having more time to visit with family and friends.
Then, there will be “selfish” things like remodeling a house, travel, or buying a piece of art.
I think Americans confuse wealth with being rich. Being rich means you never have to work another day and have no care in the world about being poor again. I’m comfortable, but I still worry the wheels could come off. If they continue to eviscerate the government, many of us are going to have to worry about Social Security, Medicare, etc. A couple of visits to the hospital, and we’ll be poor.
Yes i was panicked that i was going to be messed up for a long time. Getting to a certain point removed that and honestly just felt like i was now living
When my wife and I were younger, there were times I had to avoid putting gas in the car, or skip groceries due to money being tight. It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s that finally went away.
I am by no means wealthy – not at all – but when I go to the grocery store, I don’t really have to make ‘hard decisions’, and If we want to have a date night out, we can.
In full disclosure, I am helping two kids pay for college as well – so, I am a bit tapped out.
It removed a source of stress. I grew up in a family that had to be extremely careful about money and that attitude carried over into my adult years. When I finally became financially secure, the difference was noticeable. I no longer needed to live on pasta for a week to save for my rent. This makes a difference. So, not happier, but definitely calmer.
It will make you happier to an extent. But it can’t become your everything, or it can easily consume you. Just like any other good or necessary thing that becomes disproportionately important to a person or community over all the other needs we have as human beings.
Money can help with being content. But for many, money can become their idol, and no amount is ever enough, and no amount can ever insure existential security. It can easily become that whole Golem “my precious” thing, but in a much subtler way (but not always, and people can become extremely warped and distorted by money).
I think making a decent income and managing your finances well is similar to keeping up physical fitness, mental health, and relationships. All these things managed well will make a person happier than not. But all of these things if overblown can become unhealthy for a person.
Happier? Maybe less stress because I could pay all my bills and have money to save and also to spend some to travel. My greatest happiness in this life has been quality time with loved ones. Whether we sat and ate steak or hot dogs didn’t matter. I enjoyed their company sitting around a bonfire or being with them on a beautiful tropical island beach.
Hell, yes. Not having to worry about having enough cash to pay bills, or in my case when young, having to live in the cheapest shithole I could rent and dealing with the fun of cockroaches, mold, or cold in the winter and heat in the summer makes for a much better life.
I’m 70. When young I experienced homelessness, lived in a camper shell on my shitty pickup truck while working a night shift in a factory for a summer to save up money to pay for one semester of college. Parked somewhere in the shade around a city lake and slept in the pickup during the day.
I’ve made that decision to pay the electric and gas bill during the winter but have the water shut off until next month before.
I’ve learned how to survive for a month on a loaf of bread, a package of cheap bologna, a couple of cans of green beans, a dozen eggs, and a jar of peanut butter.
All that happened after high school and before college graduation ten years later. Honestly, I grew up in a poor and dysfunctional family, so was a pretty hardened ‘survivor’ by age 17.
Found put I wasn’t as stupid as my high school experience led me to believe, eventually graduated with an engineering degree and got a professional job.
But then when you start with virtually nothing, but need a reliable vehicle and a place to live somewhat near your job, that first few years is still rough. That’s the “paycheck to paycheck” period.
Then came the years I returned to living in hovels to save money for the down-payment on a house. Back to cheap food and bugs just to try and hop onto that American dream.
Over the decades it seems that I wrecked my health and ignored my family in pursuit of the almighty dollar just to be “middle class.”
Raising kids is not cheap, so I did without again. I drove crappy cars, and lived cheaply. It was important to me in that I pay for my kids college so they could start out ahead of where I did and I got that done. That might be my greatest accomplishment on a personal level.
After 40 years of working in engineering I can say that I was able to retire with a decent nestegg. With that and Social Security I can afford a middle class lifestyle. Some would say I’m well off now, many others think I live like a pauper.
But I can say with all honesty that the more money I made in my career the easier life got and therefore the happier I got.
And looking back, it seems ridiculous how difficult it was to “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” and to chase that middle class American dream.
For me personally, I do not believe the reward to be worth the effort required. I have a whole lot of empathy for any young person trying to do the same thing today.
To be honest, in my view, if you grow up in poverty the American Dream is more of a nightmare.
You bet it did. We worked long and hard for it too. It’s very nice to not have to worry. It took decades to get there, but when we did, we appreciated it.
It helped me feel safe. Which caused me less worry which made me happier. But that’s baseline happiness. My family and dog and where I’m live and doing things I love make me happy. I would do the same things whether I had money or not.
Yes. Money has allowed me to do things that make me happy. Without the money I could not have done those things. For instance buying several guitars, a piano and other musical instruments. Going to Glastonbury multiple years. I live in Canada so that festival is expensive.
Money itself doesn’t make me happy. It’s a tool that enables me to happiness.
It reduced our stress. We aren’t super well-off and still have to plan big purchases but at this point don’t have to worry about having money to pay bills, or things like getting a card declined or over drafting our accounts.
There was a study we read way back in grad school that said the money=happiness is true to a point. That point was being able to pay expenses and feel you lived a similar lifestyle to your peers. Below and above that threshold stress levels increased. Don’t know if that’s true but I do know there is happiness is being content with what you have.
Yes. Hitting the point we could cover bills, fund retirement and not have to worry about every little expense made us happy. But that does not mean we are happy every day. It just means we have less pressure on us, and I think that contributes to overall happiness. But it certainly is not a cure-all.
There’s been a good deal of research on tech workers and what they find is, up to a point, money matters, but for most tech workers, once their basic needs are covered and they’ve reached a basic level of “comfort”, money has far less impact than other incentives.
Personally, as a software developer, since my second job back in 1992, money hasn’t really been a factor in my job choices, because since then I’ve made more than enough to make me comfortable. The only time it was a major factor in a job choice for me was when two companies were competing for me and one just suddenly doubled their offer. Wife would have killed me if I walked away from that…
But other than that really rare event, the determining factor was always the work and the people.
My wife comes from a very frugal family and she, fortunately, showed me how to be more responsible with my money. But I’ve just never worried about it. I don’t care about it, really. I don’t want a lot of stuff, I just want to be “comfortable” and be able to enjoy my life.
I actively avoid getting promoted and advancing at my current company. It’s weird, because they really push advancement, but 1> I’m 4 years from retirement. I don’t have that kind of ambition anymore, 2> With advancement comes more responsibilities, doing stuff I don’t want to do.
So I’m actively avoiding more money and more prestige, to avoid extra work and stress that don’t appeal to me.
As someone who has had period in my life where I couldn’t afford enough food to eat and periods where I have been low end rich, I can definitely say yes, but not necessarily in the way that many people imagine.
The first and most obvious way is freedom from worrying about the basic necessities and having those necessities. With money, I don’t have to worry about whether I can cover rent. I don’t have to make difficult decisions about what food I can afford to buy. Grocery shopping is more pleasant when you don’t need to pay attention to prices.
Another big source of happiness from money is the ability to do things for other people. Whether it is helping with a relative’s unexpected medical bills, making sure my kid’s graduate college debt free, or donating to a charity that I strongly believe in, having money brings me a lot of joy in those cases.
Travel is another source of happiness with money. My wife and I love to travel. We were poor when we married, so our honeymoon was basically two weeks of tent camping. It was awesome. But with money, now we travel the world, spending a month or more in different locations. I’m not saying that our luxury trips now are any more enjoyable than our camping trips back then, but money opens up more opportunities for different experiences.
Where I think people way overestimate the happiness from money is with luxury and status goods. I drive a moderately expensive ($75K) car. It’s marginally quieter and more comfortable than the $25K used car I used to drive, but not by as much as I expected. Does it make me happier? Not by a meaningful amount. And I’m baffled by people who think that $20,000 watches, fancy jewelry, or designer outfits will make them happier. I’ve seen no evidence that they do.
Probably the biggest joy that comes from having money is not having to worry about money. It’s knowing that my credit card can get me out of almost any jam I find myself in. It’s having all of my bills set up to autopay and not even thinking about them each month. It’s making decisions based on “is this worth it” rather than “can I afford it.”
I find that the old saying “money doesn’t make you happy, but it calms you down immensely” rings true for me. The lack of constant stress about not being able to cover the basics or an emergency takes me to a calm neutral place, and from there, I can focus on things that actively make me happy.
Now I will say money or no money, it’s important to find gratitude every day. That’s a super helpful mental habit to have. One of the things I’m grateful for now is stability. Eventually I’m hoping for comfort.
Yes, going from 30K to 40K, to 50K, to 60K each gave huge increases in happiness and my family’s sense of stability. Being able to shop for groceries without spending an hour planning out what we can or can’t afford is huge.
Being able to eat out on a whim is huge. Knowing we can pay each and every bill that comes due throughout the month and still put some money into savings is the best feeling in the world.
I’m now earning over 80K and my wife has a job that pays about half that, so with our income we are now able to afford a yearly vacation somewhere nice. My wife and I never went anywhere for the first 15 years of our lives together. Not sure that is really that huge, I don’t think I need it, but I’m so glad to be giving my kids some interesting experiences.
All of this is due to more money. Not life changing money, but good solid middle class money.
Yes. I haven’t had millions in dollars so I don’t know what it feels but having more where I don’t live paycheck to paycheck and can afford just about most things I wanted, yeah, more money made me happier. I also enjoy the process of making money as an entrepreneur
Yes. Absolutely! Not having to worry about balancing the proverbial chequebook has been amazing. To be clear, we didn’t start having more money until the last kid moved out. We were still both working, and the money went a lot further. We now had disposable income to invest, and those investments have done quite well.
It’s good to know that you can help out your kids when their entire city is on fire; Fort McMurray 2016. It’s nice being able to buy a last-minute ticket when your first grandson is born four weeks early.
Yes, yes, and yes. The mortgage is paid, vacations are taken, consumerism is supported. Not having to constantly worry about money is a huge relief. I really miss that.
The security of more money made me happier. We didn’t have to be worried about whether or not we could afford food, which we previously couldn’t, or a mortgage payment, which we weren’t always able to make on time.
Turns out I would rather have less money and not be verbally, emotionally, mentally and financially abused. He was spending all the money on himself anyways so I really wasn’t benefiting from it. I’m use to doing without.
More money took away some stress for sure…not having to wonder if I’m going to make rent or get the power turned off is a relief and makes life more comfortable, but it doesn’t necessarily make you happy. You can have money and still be unhappy depending on other life circumstances.
Absolutely! It has allowed us to live without worry, enjoy nice things, seek medical and dental care without concern for cost, retire early, and provide a more certain financial future for our two adult children.
I think once a person’s income easily covers their basic needs, a huge about of stress is lifted. That reduction in stress can be interpreted as happiness, but actual happiness is subjective and doesn’t have a minimum income requirement.
When I fell into more money it always made me happy I was able to do things pay things off get on track set my goals and my sights to the Future. Money is what you do with it it’s a tool not like a hammer or a screwdriver think of it like Doctor who’s Sonic screwdriver can do just about anything if you put your hands and your mind to it. I believe people are happiest and so study about 10 years ago making around $88,000 a year.
I came to Silicon Valley in 1979, worked very hard for years, made money and retired in the Great Recession in 2008 at 51 when age discrimination became an issue. But I had an amazing house and wife and could afford to travel. We were very happy.
Last year I realized my savings were getting low and interest no longer covered my fun life. I had 8 years until I ran out of cash. Very unhappy. The weird thing is I have millions in home equity after a lifetime of payments here. So we are selling our amazing house and buying one just as nice for 1/3 the price in Charlotte, NC. My net worth will not change but I have $2M more in cash and return to a carefree lifestyle. I expect to be happy again by summer.
Not worrying about money made me happier. The a/c is broken, no problem just get it fixed instead of scrambling and worrying where the money will come from. I grew up incredibly poor (basic utilities sometimes if the bill could be paid, food, when we had money). My late 20s-50 were in a high income marriage. Raised my children in comfort, with food never a worry. Then a devastating divorce and back to an income I had in college. The fear never goes away.
I don’t worry about it anymore. Now I am more aware of how not to show that I have an abundance of it. Interacting with people is easier when they don’t know your monetary worth.
Whelp, some amount of money is necessary to keep life from being very difficult. You can’t be happy if you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. But if you have enough money for your basic needs, then strong relationships (friends, spouse, partners) are far more important than money when it comes to happiness.
I experimented quite a bit with creating more money and also creating more free time to find where the balance between the two suited me. Highly recommend the process, where possible.
Not really, when I was making the most money I also had the most financial responsibility and no way to actually save for a future. It was work work work bills bills bills.
On a fixed income now, and it’s a challenge and the future looks bleak as fuck. So I’ll get back to you, maybe.
Yes! Because, I don’t have to worry about bills, something I want to buy to eat or shop. It takes a lot of stress off if you can at least make enough passively to pay for your lifestyle. The rest…? Hopefully you’re into investing, helping or creating!
More money than you need isn’t always going to make you a happier person. Some of these folks are so fucking miserable…because they have no direction.
I asked a really wealthy guy this same question. He said, the more you make.. the more you have to spend and the more worries and headaches it brings. You have to hire people to handle it, lawyers, accountants, banks. Your family wants a nicer house, nicer cars, insurance goes thru the roof, along with maintenance and utilities. Sometimes you need security. That costs a bunch. You get constant barrages of requests from family and friends who want something and they don’t stay friends if you loan or give them money because they’ll never pay you back. So they disappear from your life even if you don’t care that they didn’t pay you back. People are constantly trying to get something from you and you can’t trust any of them. Friends drift away from envy or insecurity.
He said he wished he could live like he and his wife did back when they had almost nothing and had just hid the money in a bunch of savings accounts somewhere and never let another soul know about it.
Absolutely. When I made 40k and my wife was making…whatever it was, we lived paycheck to paycheck. I got raise after raise. Even making $110,000, we lived paycheck to paycheck. I still worried about car repairs, emergencies, etc. It wasn’t until I made over $250,000 that money absolutely became a non-issue. In New York City maybe that wouldn’t be that much, but in the backwater area I’m in, it’s big money. And I never, ever, ever take it for granted. Not worrying about something coming up to put me in the red makes me happy every day.
Yeah. As others have said, keeping the wolf of worry off your doorstep makes you feel a little better 24/7. But beyond that, it buys you the freedom to do the things you truly want.
I wanted to see the world. I wanted to travel a LOT, and do it in style. But that’s a rich man’s game, and it took a long, long while till I was ready to do it on the regular. But now, there’s no looking back. I’m living the life I chose, and I have zero regrets.
I’m a recent widow. The number of stories of widows I’ve heard who can’t afford to stay in their homes after their husband passes is alarming. I feel tremendously grateful and very happy that I am in nowhere near that situation.
Side note: Please make sure you have current beneficiary designations assigned, Last Will and Testaments drawn up, DNR/DNI status documented, etc. The number of people over age 40 who don’t have those things in place is a bit shocking to me.
Being average your whole life and wealthy in retirement from age 55 is awesome. You have a good balanced perspective on life and realize what’s important, and money is definitely right up there with health. When you have money and don’t have to work you decide what to do with your time every day. It’s as good as it sounds, probably better.
No, because money does not buy happiness, the best it does is keep the wolf from the door so that one may focus intently on what internal is causing one’s unhappiness
Having ENOUGH money makes you happier. Like, when you can buy food and pay your bills and never be late on rent and take care of your health issues. That definitely makes you happier.
More money made me happier, but I didn’t earn it. I inherited enough $$ to buy a house. Given today’s rental markets, I’m definitely happier as a home owner.
It eliminated a huge portion of my stress, so yes. That said, it brings me a lot of comfort knowing I could go broke tomorrow and be okay because I know how to live that way. Well, except living out of my car again because my back is shot now.
No, because it wasn’t enough for me to leave this job. I am stuck in a constant chase for more money but I feel more miserable because it’s not enough to set me free. More money does not bring happiness, a tonne of money equals to 50 years of labor would.
Honestly, when I had little or no money I was happiest. As I got more money, I wanted more. As I have gotten older, as long as I have the basics (basics to me anyway) covered I am happy. Roof over my head, utilities and internet, and of course this infernal machine we invented to watch cats and browse Reddit
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Money itself, no. The money did however provide me the means for a more comfortable life and that comfort definitely lead to greater happiness.
Yes.
Not having to make decisions about whether to buy something or not, not having to save up for relatively minor purchases, and the ability to buy luxuries without any guilt is a huge stress reliever. Actually having a little spare cash in the bank instead of living paycheque to paycheque does wonders for quality of life.
Yes, I was able to buy food, pay rent, get a car and insurance, plus I can afford health care, and that makes me happy
Yes, indirectly. It’s not the money that makes you happy. It’s the freedom that money provides that allows you to be pursue what makes you happy.
Yes. As a kid I worried we’d lose our house. This was justified since we were always 3 months behind on rent and sometimes our power was cut. It helped me develop a nice anxiety disorder.
Now I have a 6 month emergency fund and a home I own that will be paid off in the next 8 years. It makes me VERY happy.
My income recently doubled as I was declared 100% disabled by the VA system. I don’t worry about late payments anymore and bought Ribeyes over Sirloin. More happy? Not really. I still have the same old problems with marriage, kids and grandkids.
Happier? In a sense that there was not constant worry about where to allocate funds or what to say no to with children. Yes, when I was able to be in a better, safer place to raise my kids.
More money alleviated some stress and less stress helps you live more comfortably.
Yes, to a limited extent. Once I wasn’t having to worry every month about an unexpected bill wrecking my finances I was happier. It was one less source of day-to-day anxiety that makes life hard.
Absolutely. It is really, really, really stressful to deal with the neverending series of difficulties that poverty forces you to endure.
It made me less worried about money, plus it allowed me to do things that I’d historically said “No, I can’t afford to X” (like travel or hobbies).
So I’d say “yes”.
It’s not a magic switch that makes you happy, but I’m not stressed about food, I’m not worried about my car breaking down or my lights getting cut off and those are big quality of life anxieties.
Yes.
Short and long answer YES, by any means, in any way, being poor was the worst time of my life.
But also id like to add: if you have money and 0 financial intelligence, youre in for a baaaaaad time
Once I had the basics and could save some, more money didn’t make much difference. I’d trade money for health. And people saying you can get healthcare with more money, not always. No personal amount of money will cure my rare disease. When the incidence rate is 1/100,000 there is no magic pill that money can provide.
Absolutely. Not having to worry about making your bills from one month to the next makes a big difference in happiness levels. I don’t need to be rich to be happy. But being about to relax and enjoy the life I do have instead of stressing over money is a pretty big deal.
Money 💰 makes life easier not happier. You’re either happy or your not. Whether we were living paycheck to paycheck or later in life having things, i chose to be happy. 46 years later, we can travel if we want. Eat out once or twice a week,, see friends on the weekend. I don’t have everything I wanted when I was younger but I’m happy where I’m at.
Sort of. Happier in the sense that we weren’t living paycheck to paycheck and concerned about bills etc. at a certain point not only did I not worry about bills but had enough disposable that I could buy whatever I wanted (within reason of course). We are still pretty frugal though.
Yes, no question. It made me feel safe and accomplished. Can recommend!
Yes. More money made life easier and in turn made us happier. The more we acquired the happier we were. When you’re not stressed about paying bills, working OT to survive, cutting costs and amenities etc you have more time to do the things you like and in turn it was an overall mood boost.
Indirectly, having all the debts paid off is a huge weight off your shoulders. It’s not that I’m making more money, it’s that I have less bills each month.
In a nutshell, yes. But it can’t bring internal happiness. It makes life exponentially easier and provides you with more options and opportunities. It alleviates the worry and wondering about how xyz will be paid and when. It takes away the uncertainty of emergencies and how to pay for them. As a result of this, a level of happiness follows. However, if you weren’t an internally happy person before money, you will not be happy with money either.
But also, with every level, there is a new devil. It brings its own challenges and problems as well. However, I would say that we are overall happier with it than without it.
More money… didn’t make life easier, just changed the type of stresses one experiences …
little money = worries of meeting basic needs & responsibilities. More money = worries of meeting expectations and responsibilities that maintain the increased income level.
I don’t know that more money actually made me happier, but being in debt with a low income sure did make me UNhappy. It was stressful and depressing and I felt so trapped. So, finally getting traction and climbing out of that cycle made the UNhappy feeling much better …. so, yeah. I guess so.
Yes. But — the anxiety of not having enough again could be very upsetting at times. Lots of therapy!!
Not having to worry about money has made me happier.
More money made me less stressed, allowed me to focus on my wife and kids from when they were born, allowed her to stay home with them for several years, allowed the kids ,more college flexibility (we don’t have THAT kind of money!), and allow us to take a couple of affordable vacations per year without messing up our saving for retirement.
Fuck yeah it did.
Yes, it absolutely did.
Before, I shopped at the local bodega and would buy 2 bricks of ramen noodles containing about 10 packs apiece. I lived on ramen, steamed rice, carrots, black beans and the worst tuna you’ve ever smelt for about 5 years. New clothes came from Goodwill and a hyper local thrift store. I also once took Bass Weejuns out of someone else’s trash and took them home.
Now while I like to think that job satisfaction, career growth, good friends and a loving partner are enough, I can tell you for experience that money helps out a LOT. This comment stuck with me, “Money can’t buy everything. But poverty can’t buy anything.“
Getting out of actual poverty like truly not having enough food and having to stay in a single bedroom with 3 kids at a relatives poor made being happier easier.
Getting to the point where being debt free completely, having great vacations, and looking for my dream home? Not some much because as soon as that tipping point was reached my ex-husband decided I was dead weight who did nothing for him. I watched money inflate his ego to the point very literally decided sleeping in my car was better than living in the same house as him.
What I’ve seen personally is money gives you freedom to be more of whatever type of person you already were. My ex was always a douche but money gave him power to douche harder and he douched like a boss.
The money didn’t make me happier but the opportunities it provided put me in a position where I could make my family and others happy. At the end of the day like others have said, money was just a tool
100%… once I hit the point when my investments have the ability to pay for all of my monthly living costs the stress in my life decreased massively. I became a better father, husband, friend, and employee without financial stress in my life.
Absolutely it made me happier for many reasons including alleviating stress over potentially not having money for bills.
It also buys great experiences and nice things that make my life easier and more comfortable.
I don’t worry about access to good medical care or needing a new appliance and within reason I can buy anything that I want or need. I am not especially into things so I am not out there shopping but if I need a new iphone or computer or quality vacuum cleaner, I can just buy exactly what I want and need.
I also get gratification from being generous which brings me happiness. I “overpay” my cleaning lady and give her generous gifts. I tip everyone a lot because they are hard working people and my large tip enhances their life more and it doesn’t make any dent in my living standards. I also give to charities that I support.
I don’t strive to be a billionaire or covet large homes or a Maserati or anything else that is a “status” object because I don’t care. No one knows or suspects my financial position which is fine with me.
I can also see how being “comfortable” in retirement makes a huge difference and you need a certain income level to achieve that. My father was able to move into a very nice “retirement hotel” and in the last two years of his life, he was able to afford a 24/7 companion to assist with things which made his life safer and more comfortable.
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Made things easier.
Happier? Nah. I’m responsible for my happiness.
Yes
Yes, 100%.
Yea hellyea
Yes. 100%. Not having to worry about making ends meet is a huge weight off the shoulders. Having money in the bank to handle the stuff that inevitably comes up is huge. And having the money to do fun things, have some luxuries if I want them is great.
I’m disabled and live below the poverty line on SSDI. I used to have a terrific job that I loved, working on movies. Between them, I had time to work in my studio, in the house that I used to own. I had to spend all my savings and 401K before I could get Disability.
Due to lack of Disabled/Affordable Housing, rent and bills eat up my entire check. The next rent hike will make me homeless, and I can’t save up to move because there is no money. I have no social life, because I can’t even afford a cup of coffee, it’s been 20 years since I had my hair cut at a salon, if I need dental/eye care, I can’t afford it, and I’m patching old clothes.
Not worrying about if one small thing will make you homeless, or if your cat gets sick, or if you can afford meds, being able to afford to go out, to create things, to buy presents rather than always having to make them….that is an ease of life that I truly miss. Stress is also a silent killer.
Yes, to be free of anxiety was transformative. I actually get a little giddy when I respond to the mechanic’s suggestion of something needed; go for it!
Inherited a considerable (to paycheck-to-paycheck me) amount, and while it didn’t directly make me happier, at least not yet, it did let me relax just a little.
No, but it sure makes life less stressful. It’s a full time job being broke.
Having enough money that putting food on the table and a roof overhead can be taken for granted eliminates a great deal of stress. Money beyond that level has diminishing returns.
I would say that once I had enough not to feel constantly anxious about it, I became much happier.
Happy no make life easier yes.
My family was poor as I grew up, but we didn’t know it. As a young man, I made a meager paycheck with the military. After I left the military, I struggled with a small paycheck for a few years and then I entered the technical field and quadruppled my paycheck and it’s been growing ever since. I started my own business years ago and recently retired. I am debt free and my wife and I live well. We are far from wealthy, but we have more than we need and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Not having to worry about money is a big relief.
Yes. I have more peace of mind when I’m financially strong.
In the same way that having a full spare box of nails in the garage, in the event that I should need a few nails, makes me happier.
What’s also true is that SPENDING more money has never made me feel happier.
I read that as monkey
I was a pro sax player with a food addiction. Ya; money made me happier.
It made me healthier, wiser and able to have a lot more fun. Good healthcare and better food, a college education, vacations.
It doesn’t make you a nicer, better person, a more devoted parent or spouse. And it doesn’t make you forget sad or bad things. It can’t make you less lazy or motivated, ambitious or dedicated.
Money isn’t a life’s purpose or an action plan. It’s a tool and like all tools, its use can help or hurt you.
Way back when I made enogh money to pay the rent, eat what I want and didn’t have to worry about ending up homeless, I was much happier.
I would say that there is a difference between something making you happier and something making negative feelings less common. More money didn’t make me happier, but it did make me less anxious, insecure, and depressed.
I grew up very poor such that we were completely broke at the end of the month and going around trying to find bottles to turn in for deposit so we could get milk or gas for the car. Keep in mind that poor people didn’t have credit cards in the past. It’s not like you could charge and pay it back when you got paid. It was the kind of life where you had to look at the prices and add it all up because you only had so much in the bank and you didn’t want to overdraw on your checking account.
My husband and I are comfortable financially right now and it’s very freeing not to have to fret over every penny you spend or to know that, if there is a plumbing problem that you can afford to pay the bill without worrying about not having enough for other bills. This doesn’t mean I’m “happy”. I’m just less stressed out and worried on a regular basis. It’s more like “relief.”
Of course
It greatly reduced my stress over bills and needs every day. That made me very happy.
No. It did cut down on my stress. I feel less of a burden to pay bills, mortgage, and save for the future. But that did not make me happy.
What made me happy was working on myself. That started with getting sober, and also years of therapy to work on my issues. Over the years, that is what made me happier.
Happier? No. But definitely less anxious.
Yes
Money provides an avenue to things that may very well make you happy. But happiness is relative and personal.
However, with a bit extra, some folks might recognize the dream of homeowership or being able to afford sports or college educations for their children
It allows for charitable and philanthropic donations and the time to volunteer.
Or, helping grown kids purchase a first house and having more time to visit with family and friends.
Then, there will be “selfish” things like remodeling a house, travel, or buying a piece of art.
Yes
Yes
yeah
Once I wasn’t a starving twenty-something, no.
Refer to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for derails
I think Americans confuse wealth with being rich. Being rich means you never have to work another day and have no care in the world about being poor again. I’m comfortable, but I still worry the wheels could come off. If they continue to eviscerate the government, many of us are going to have to worry about Social Security, Medicare, etc. A couple of visits to the hospital, and we’ll be poor.
Yes i was panicked that i was going to be messed up for a long time. Getting to a certain point removed that and honestly just felt like i was now living
Grew up without money. Now retired with more than enough. The latter is preferable.
Yes of course me earning more money made me and my family happier
Yes.
When my wife and I were younger, there were times I had to avoid putting gas in the car, or skip groceries due to money being tight. It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s that finally went away.
I am by no means wealthy – not at all – but when I go to the grocery store, I don’t really have to make ‘hard decisions’, and If we want to have a date night out, we can.
In full disclosure, I am helping two kids pay for college as well – so, I am a bit tapped out.
Absolutely. It was the catalyst to more opportunity and freedom.
Yes. Because I could give my kid better opportunities. We are by no means rich, but feeling financially ok gives great peace of mind.
r/no
Yes 100%. I’ve been very poor and I’ve been comfortable. As the saying goes, I’d rather be crying in a Ferrari.
It removed a source of stress. I grew up in a family that had to be extremely careful about money and that attitude carried over into my adult years. When I finally became financially secure, the difference was noticeable. I no longer needed to live on pasta for a week to save for my rent. This makes a difference. So, not happier, but definitely calmer.
Yes it does.
It will make you happier to an extent. But it can’t become your everything, or it can easily consume you. Just like any other good or necessary thing that becomes disproportionately important to a person or community over all the other needs we have as human beings.
Money can help with being content. But for many, money can become their idol, and no amount is ever enough, and no amount can ever insure existential security. It can easily become that whole Golem “my precious” thing, but in a much subtler way (but not always, and people can become extremely warped and distorted by money).
I think making a decent income and managing your finances well is similar to keeping up physical fitness, mental health, and relationships. All these things managed well will make a person happier than not. But all of these things if overblown can become unhealthy for a person.
Yes.
Happier? Maybe less stress because I could pay all my bills and have money to save and also to spend some to travel. My greatest happiness in this life has been quality time with loved ones. Whether we sat and ate steak or hot dogs didn’t matter. I enjoyed their company sitting around a bonfire or being with them on a beautiful tropical island beach.
No. Money does not buy happiness. Too many people with a lot of money are not truly happy. Money can buy peace of mind.
Yes, it did and when I no longer had it, I was sad.
Absolutely, yes! And less money made me hyperbolically sadder.
Hell, yes. Not having to worry about having enough cash to pay bills, or in my case when young, having to live in the cheapest shithole I could rent and dealing with the fun of cockroaches, mold, or cold in the winter and heat in the summer makes for a much better life.
I’m 70. When young I experienced homelessness, lived in a camper shell on my shitty pickup truck while working a night shift in a factory for a summer to save up money to pay for one semester of college. Parked somewhere in the shade around a city lake and slept in the pickup during the day.
I’ve made that decision to pay the electric and gas bill during the winter but have the water shut off until next month before.
I’ve learned how to survive for a month on a loaf of bread, a package of cheap bologna, a couple of cans of green beans, a dozen eggs, and a jar of peanut butter.
All that happened after high school and before college graduation ten years later. Honestly, I grew up in a poor and dysfunctional family, so was a pretty hardened ‘survivor’ by age 17.
Found put I wasn’t as stupid as my high school experience led me to believe, eventually graduated with an engineering degree and got a professional job.
But then when you start with virtually nothing, but need a reliable vehicle and a place to live somewhat near your job, that first few years is still rough. That’s the “paycheck to paycheck” period.
Then came the years I returned to living in hovels to save money for the down-payment on a house. Back to cheap food and bugs just to try and hop onto that American dream.
Over the decades it seems that I wrecked my health and ignored my family in pursuit of the almighty dollar just to be “middle class.”
Raising kids is not cheap, so I did without again. I drove crappy cars, and lived cheaply. It was important to me in that I pay for my kids college so they could start out ahead of where I did and I got that done. That might be my greatest accomplishment on a personal level.
After 40 years of working in engineering I can say that I was able to retire with a decent nestegg. With that and Social Security I can afford a middle class lifestyle. Some would say I’m well off now, many others think I live like a pauper.
But I can say with all honesty that the more money I made in my career the easier life got and therefore the happier I got.
And looking back, it seems ridiculous how difficult it was to “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” and to chase that middle class American dream.
For me personally, I do not believe the reward to be worth the effort required. I have a whole lot of empathy for any young person trying to do the same thing today.
To be honest, in my view, if you grow up in poverty the American Dream is more of a nightmare.
You bet it did. We worked long and hard for it too. It’s very nice to not have to worry. It took decades to get there, but when we did, we appreciated it.
It helped me feel safe. Which caused me less worry which made me happier. But that’s baseline happiness. My family and dog and where I’m live and doing things I love make me happy. I would do the same things whether I had money or not.
Yes. Money has allowed me to do things that make me happy. Without the money I could not have done those things. For instance buying several guitars, a piano and other musical instruments. Going to Glastonbury multiple years. I live in Canada so that festival is expensive.
Money itself doesn’t make me happy. It’s a tool that enables me to happiness.
It reduced our stress. We aren’t super well-off and still have to plan big purchases but at this point don’t have to worry about having money to pay bills, or things like getting a card declined or over drafting our accounts.
There was a study we read way back in grad school that said the money=happiness is true to a point. That point was being able to pay expenses and feel you lived a similar lifestyle to your peers. Below and above that threshold stress levels increased. Don’t know if that’s true but I do know there is happiness is being content with what you have.
Absolutely. I worried less about my own expenses. What a relief. I also felt good that I could be more generous to my friends, family and charity.
Always.
I’ll let you know if it ever happens.
Yes. Hitting the point we could cover bills, fund retirement and not have to worry about every little expense made us happy. But that does not mean we are happy every day. It just means we have less pressure on us, and I think that contributes to overall happiness. But it certainly is not a cure-all.
Not really, I don’t care about material things so….does make you comfortable tho
Not happier, but less stressed.
There’s been a good deal of research on tech workers and what they find is, up to a point, money matters, but for most tech workers, once their basic needs are covered and they’ve reached a basic level of “comfort”, money has far less impact than other incentives.
Personally, as a software developer, since my second job back in 1992, money hasn’t really been a factor in my job choices, because since then I’ve made more than enough to make me comfortable. The only time it was a major factor in a job choice for me was when two companies were competing for me and one just suddenly doubled their offer. Wife would have killed me if I walked away from that…
But other than that really rare event, the determining factor was always the work and the people.
My wife comes from a very frugal family and she, fortunately, showed me how to be more responsible with my money. But I’ve just never worried about it. I don’t care about it, really. I don’t want a lot of stuff, I just want to be “comfortable” and be able to enjoy my life.
I actively avoid getting promoted and advancing at my current company. It’s weird, because they really push advancement, but 1> I’m 4 years from retirement. I don’t have that kind of ambition anymore, 2> With advancement comes more responsibilities, doing stuff I don’t want to do.
So I’m actively avoiding more money and more prestige, to avoid extra work and stress that don’t appeal to me.
As someone who has had period in my life where I couldn’t afford enough food to eat and periods where I have been low end rich, I can definitely say yes, but not necessarily in the way that many people imagine.
The first and most obvious way is freedom from worrying about the basic necessities and having those necessities. With money, I don’t have to worry about whether I can cover rent. I don’t have to make difficult decisions about what food I can afford to buy. Grocery shopping is more pleasant when you don’t need to pay attention to prices.
Another big source of happiness from money is the ability to do things for other people. Whether it is helping with a relative’s unexpected medical bills, making sure my kid’s graduate college debt free, or donating to a charity that I strongly believe in, having money brings me a lot of joy in those cases.
Travel is another source of happiness with money. My wife and I love to travel. We were poor when we married, so our honeymoon was basically two weeks of tent camping. It was awesome. But with money, now we travel the world, spending a month or more in different locations. I’m not saying that our luxury trips now are any more enjoyable than our camping trips back then, but money opens up more opportunities for different experiences.
Where I think people way overestimate the happiness from money is with luxury and status goods. I drive a moderately expensive ($75K) car. It’s marginally quieter and more comfortable than the $25K used car I used to drive, but not by as much as I expected. Does it make me happier? Not by a meaningful amount. And I’m baffled by people who think that $20,000 watches, fancy jewelry, or designer outfits will make them happier. I’ve seen no evidence that they do.
Probably the biggest joy that comes from having money is not having to worry about money. It’s knowing that my credit card can get me out of almost any jam I find myself in. It’s having all of my bills set up to autopay and not even thinking about them each month. It’s making decisions based on “is this worth it” rather than “can I afford it.”
I find that the old saying “money doesn’t make you happy, but it calms you down immensely” rings true for me. The lack of constant stress about not being able to cover the basics or an emergency takes me to a calm neutral place, and from there, I can focus on things that actively make me happy.
Now I will say money or no money, it’s important to find gratitude every day. That’s a super helpful mental habit to have. One of the things I’m grateful for now is stability. Eventually I’m hoping for comfort.
Yes, going from 30K to 40K, to 50K, to 60K each gave huge increases in happiness and my family’s sense of stability. Being able to shop for groceries without spending an hour planning out what we can or can’t afford is huge.
Being able to eat out on a whim is huge. Knowing we can pay each and every bill that comes due throughout the month and still put some money into savings is the best feeling in the world.
I’m now earning over 80K and my wife has a job that pays about half that, so with our income we are now able to afford a yearly vacation somewhere nice. My wife and I never went anywhere for the first 15 years of our lives together. Not sure that is really that huge, I don’t think I need it, but I’m so glad to be giving my kids some interesting experiences.
All of this is due to more money. Not life changing money, but good solid middle class money.
Oh gosh yes. It was the final missing piece.
Yes. I haven’t had millions in dollars so I don’t know what it feels but having more where I don’t live paycheck to paycheck and can afford just about most things I wanted, yeah, more money made me happier. I also enjoy the process of making money as an entrepreneur
Not stressing about how I’m going to pay the bills every month has got to better on my health and that makes me happier.
Yes. Absolutely! Not having to worry about balancing the proverbial chequebook has been amazing. To be clear, we didn’t start having more money until the last kid moved out. We were still both working, and the money went a lot further. We now had disposable income to invest, and those investments have done quite well.
It’s good to know that you can help out your kids when their entire city is on fire; Fort McMurray 2016. It’s nice being able to buy a last-minute ticket when your first grandson is born four weeks early.
Yes, yes, and yes. The mortgage is paid, vacations are taken, consumerism is supported. Not having to constantly worry about money is a huge relief. I really miss that.
The security of more money made me happier. We didn’t have to be worried about whether or not we could afford food, which we previously couldn’t, or a mortgage payment, which we weren’t always able to make on time.
It can’t buy happiness but it can alleviate misery.
No, but a divorce did.
Turns out I would rather have less money and not be verbally, emotionally, mentally and financially abused. He was spending all the money on himself anyways so I really wasn’t benefiting from it. I’m use to doing without.
More money took away some stress for sure…not having to wonder if I’m going to make rent or get the power turned off is a relief and makes life more comfortable, but it doesn’t necessarily make you happy. You can have money and still be unhappy depending on other life circumstances.
Yes. It eased my worry over dying poor. That’s quite a luxury in the U.S.
Not happier but a lot less stressed lemme tell ya
Absolutely! It has allowed us to live without worry, enjoy nice things, seek medical and dental care without concern for cost, retire early, and provide a more certain financial future for our two adult children.
It made me less anxious
I think once a person’s income easily covers their basic needs, a huge about of stress is lifted. That reduction in stress can be interpreted as happiness, but actual happiness is subjective and doesn’t have a minimum income requirement.
I’ve never had much at all. Younger people think all boomers are loaded. I made a sport and a challenge to live on as little money as possible.
When I fell into more money it always made me happy I was able to do things pay things off get on track set my goals and my sights to the Future. Money is what you do with it it’s a tool not like a hammer or a screwdriver think of it like Doctor who’s Sonic screwdriver can do just about anything if you put your hands and your mind to it. I believe people are happiest and so study about 10 years ago making around $88,000 a year.
Once i have enough to live my day to day life thats enough. After that trying to get more feels like a waste of my time.
So no, more is not always better.
I came to Silicon Valley in 1979, worked very hard for years, made money and retired in the Great Recession in 2008 at 51 when age discrimination became an issue. But I had an amazing house and wife and could afford to travel. We were very happy.
Last year I realized my savings were getting low and interest no longer covered my fun life. I had 8 years until I ran out of cash. Very unhappy. The weird thing is I have millions in home equity after a lifetime of payments here. So we are selling our amazing house and buying one just as nice for 1/3 the price in Charlotte, NC. My net worth will not change but I have $2M more in cash and return to a carefree lifestyle. I expect to be happy again by summer.
Yes, definitely. Money means less stress, less worry, more hobbies and downtime and travel, more quality time to spend with my husband and child.
Money means a comfortable bed and air conditioning in a home that’s isolated from unpleasant noise so I can sleep better at night.
Money means I’m in a better position to take care of my body and health. I eat better, get exercise, and can afford medical care when I need it.
MORE money….Hell yes. Being poor or just broke is miserable.
MORE money and making shitty decisions….NOT happy.
Not worrying about money made me happier. The a/c is broken, no problem just get it fixed instead of scrambling and worrying where the money will come from. I grew up incredibly poor (basic utilities sometimes if the bill could be paid, food, when we had money). My late 20s-50 were in a high income marriage. Raised my children in comfort, with food never a worry. Then a devastating divorce and back to an income I had in college. The fear never goes away.
Happiness to me is family. Money just buys comfort. Too much money turns you into Musk.
Definitely not. Now that hubby and I are retired and making quite bit less, we’re do ok financially.
Yes. Always
I don’t worry about it anymore. Now I am more aware of how not to show that I have an abundance of it. Interacting with people is easier when they don’t know your monetary worth.
Yes. Less stress
Yes. It gives you peace of mind and choices.
Shit still happens whether you have money or not, but not worrying about bills helps immeasurably.
Anybody that says anything else is lying.
Whelp, some amount of money is necessary to keep life from being very difficult. You can’t be happy if you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. But if you have enough money for your basic needs, then strong relationships (friends, spouse, partners) are far more important than money when it comes to happiness.
I experimented quite a bit with creating more money and also creating more free time to find where the balance between the two suited me. Highly recommend the process, where possible.
It made me more secure.
Not at all. Antidepressants made me happier. Close friendships made me happier. Having a healthy child made me happier.
More money, no, the stress of earning more wasn’t worth it.
Not really, when I was making the most money I also had the most financial responsibility and no way to actually save for a future. It was work work work bills bills bills.
On a fixed income now, and it’s a challenge and the future looks bleak as fuck. So I’ll get back to you, maybe.
Yes
Yes! Because, I don’t have to worry about bills, something I want to buy to eat or shop. It takes a lot of stress off if you can at least make enough passively to pay for your lifestyle. The rest…? Hopefully you’re into investing, helping or creating!
More money than you need isn’t always going to make you a happier person. Some of these folks are so fucking miserable…because they have no direction.
Yes, because it eliminated some financial stress and anxiety.
It helped me stop worrying, so yes
I asked a really wealthy guy this same question. He said, the more you make.. the more you have to spend and the more worries and headaches it brings. You have to hire people to handle it, lawyers, accountants, banks. Your family wants a nicer house, nicer cars, insurance goes thru the roof, along with maintenance and utilities. Sometimes you need security. That costs a bunch. You get constant barrages of requests from family and friends who want something and they don’t stay friends if you loan or give them money because they’ll never pay you back. So they disappear from your life even if you don’t care that they didn’t pay you back. People are constantly trying to get something from you and you can’t trust any of them. Friends drift away from envy or insecurity.
He said he wished he could live like he and his wife did back when they had almost nothing and had just hid the money in a bunch of savings accounts somewhere and never let another soul know about it.
Absolutely. When I made 40k and my wife was making…whatever it was, we lived paycheck to paycheck. I got raise after raise. Even making $110,000, we lived paycheck to paycheck. I still worried about car repairs, emergencies, etc. It wasn’t until I made over $250,000 that money absolutely became a non-issue. In New York City maybe that wouldn’t be that much, but in the backwater area I’m in, it’s big money. And I never, ever, ever take it for granted. Not worrying about something coming up to put me in the red makes me happy every day.
It certainly made life a LOT less stressful. Happier is something else and money can facilitate it but not generate it.
Yeah. As others have said, keeping the wolf of worry off your doorstep makes you feel a little better 24/7. But beyond that, it buys you the freedom to do the things you truly want.
I wanted to see the world. I wanted to travel a LOT, and do it in style. But that’s a rich man’s game, and it took a long, long while till I was ready to do it on the regular. But now, there’s no looking back. I’m living the life I chose, and I have zero regrets.
Yes
I wouldn’t say it made me happier but it certainly decreased my anxiety.
I’m a recent widow. The number of stories of widows I’ve heard who can’t afford to stay in their homes after their husband passes is alarming. I feel tremendously grateful and very happy that I am in nowhere near that situation.
Side note: Please make sure you have current beneficiary designations assigned, Last Will and Testaments drawn up, DNR/DNI status documented, etc. The number of people over age 40 who don’t have those things in place is a bit shocking to me.
Being average your whole life and wealthy in retirement from age 55 is awesome. You have a good balanced perspective on life and realize what’s important, and money is definitely right up there with health. When you have money and don’t have to work you decide what to do with your time every day. It’s as good as it sounds, probably better.
No. I’ve always been happy, even though I was poor when I was growing up. More money does relieve stress though.
No, because money does not buy happiness, the best it does is keep the wolf from the door so that one may focus intently on what internal is causing one’s unhappiness
Not having money to pay bills made me unhappy.
Having ENOUGH money makes you happier. Like, when you can buy food and pay your bills and never be late on rent and take care of your health issues. That definitely makes you happier.
More money made me happier, but I didn’t earn it. I inherited enough $$ to buy a house. Given today’s rental markets, I’m definitely happier as a home owner.
yes and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise
It eliminated a huge portion of my stress, so yes. That said, it brings me a lot of comfort knowing I could go broke tomorrow and be okay because I know how to live that way. Well, except living out of my car again because my back is shot now.
No, because it wasn’t enough for me to leave this job. I am stuck in a constant chase for more money but I feel more miserable because it’s not enough to set me free. More money does not bring happiness, a tonne of money equals to 50 years of labor would.
Doing things you want to do makes you happy. Having great experiences you wouldn’t have been able to have without money makes you happy.
Honestly, when I had little or no money I was happiest. As I got more money, I wanted more. As I have gotten older, as long as I have the basics (basics to me anyway) covered I am happy. Roof over my head, utilities and internet, and of course this infernal machine we invented to watch cats and browse Reddit
Money doesn’t buy happiness, but if you need more socks…
Yes, It’s not even about the materialistic shit that comes with it. It’s the financial security that you don’t have to worry about bills.