Comments on: Money can’t buy you happiness

By: Brandy

Brandy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:36:02 +0000

What people need to realize is that we need to be content with what we have. I have known some poor families in my time and happiness for them wasn’t in material things or money. Happiness was family and keeping a roof over their heads. It is also awful to owe people money, and rather than wanting more we need to focus on paying debt. I never spend my money foolishly, I have worked hard for every cent, and when I go shopping I think, “is that item worth the eight hours of work I just did for it”?
Thanks for writing this article it was some food for thought.

By: El dinero no compra la felicidad | Vida Sencilla

El dinero no compra la felicidad | Vida Sencilla — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:31:28 +0000

[...] artículo es una traducción libre de “Money can’t buy you happiness”, de Warren [...]

By: Warren Davies

Warren Davies — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:17:16 +0000

Hi Sam,

That’s a really good question. Certainly democracy contributes to well-being, through greater feelings of security and autonomy. There is a similar correlation within countries too, but you could argue the same point, that it’s the safety that money buys rather than the income itself. Very good point, I seem to remember a study that controlled for government type, but I can’t seem to find it. I’ll reply again if I can dig it up…

Warren

By: Sam - Bond ETF

Sam - Bond ETF — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:55:09 +0000

Hi Warren,

It’s an interesting graph. I wonder if the degree of happiness actually signifies how secure and free people feel rather than their incomes. The happiest countries, in addition to having incomes of over $15,000 a year, are also democracies with a reasonable degree of freedom of speech and in which the rule of law with regard to property ownership is well-established and strong. Of course, what I’m saying might be chicken and egg. It may be that freedom of speech and strong property laws in favor of individuals actually allow countries to become prosperous and allow people to be relatively happy.

By: tempo dulu

tempo dulu — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:42:18 +0000

Death is the great leveler – no matter how much money you make you’re gonna lose it unless you spend it or give it away.
tempo dulu´s last blog ..Indonesia’s richest people 2010 (Forbes)

By: The Self-Employed Mindset | Unready and Willing

The Self-Employed Mindset | Unready and Willing — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:56:38 +0000

[...] hardly the best possible reward for your services. You don’t have to look very far to find a significant amount of evidence that shows money doesn’t buy happiness. The general consensus seems to be [...]

By: Warren Davies

Warren Davies — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:29:37 +0000

Hello again Nick!

You’re right, the problem with big studies is they only tell you the trends and averages. Then, like you say, you have to follow up and find out what different elements mean money makes some people happier but others not.

When you’ve only got a trend in the data, you can’t apply it to individuals with 100% accuracy. This is a big misunderstanding that people have about psychology in general – you don’t learn about individuals – you learn about the average individual by studying groups. It doesn’t help that Tony Hill and all the other fictional psychologists regularly break all the rules on TV! (good programs though).

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:52:24 +0000

Hi,

interesting thoughts!

I believe that it’s not possible to make a general statement on whether money makes people more or less happy. Money comes with a whole set of new elements that may have good or bad impact on our happiness, and depending on how susceptible we are to every one of them, the conclusion will go one way or the other (i.e. different from person to person).

I recently made an effort to provide a more comprehensive picture of what these ad- and disadvantages are. I invite you to have a look at http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/08/money-how-much-should-we-strive-for-it-to-become-happy/ and tell me what you think!

Thank you,

Nick