Money can't buy happiness. Or can it?

[DtRockstar1]

I started having this discussion with some friends, and it's been on my mind lately. Here are some keypoints that we came up with:


There are lots of millionaires who are miserable. But a lot of them work 10+ hours a day in insanely successful careers, and don't get to spend much time with family and other loved ones. What good is money if you don't have time to enjoy it?

Money can buy fancy cars, yachts, mansions, jets, ect, but those things won't create lasting happiness. But if you are in the Fastlane, or at least you spend very little time working, you have the freedom to do what you want. Money can buy time to spend with the people who bring you the most joy.

It also affords you the ability to give to charities and help others in need, which is very heart warming.

So if you have a lot of money and are working crazy hours in a career that stresses you out or is soul crushing, then all the money in the world won't buy happiness. But if you have financial freedom, I would say yes, it can buy happiness.

It's also worth mentioning too that you can have a lot of money in the bank, but also be deeply in debt. That certainly won't help your happiness. So perhaps it's more appropriate to say that net worth can buy happiness.

 

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[Fendaril]

Happiness never comes from money.

But the people who are selling you will make sure you believe it does.

 

[sija1]

I started having this discussion with some friends, and it's been on my mind lately. Here are some keypoints that we came up with:


There are lots of millionaires who are miserable. But a lot of them work 10+ hours a day in insanely successful careers, and don't get to spend much time with family and other loved ones. What good is money if you don't have time to enjoy it?

Money can buy fancy cars, yachts, mansions, jets, ect, but those things won't create lasting happiness. But if you are in the Fastlane, or at least you spend very little time working, you have the freedom to do what you want. Money can buy time to spend with the people who bring you the most joy.

It also affords you the ability to give to charities and help others in need, which is very heart warming.

So if you have a lot of money and are working crazy hours in a career that stresses you out or is soul crushing, then all the money in the world won't buy happiness. But if you have financial freedom, I would say yes, it can buy happiness.

It's also worth mentioning too that you can have a lot of money in the bank, but also be deeply in debt. That certainly won't help your happiness. So perhaps it's more appropriate to say that net worth can buy happiness.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can help you achieve it. Easy as that.

Q: If money didn't exist what would I do?
A (examples): Spend everyday with my family; travel the world; help others; build a dog shelter;

That is why you need the money. Sure, you can travel the world without having a lot of money and work here and there, do this do that. But what when you're done? Life doesn't stop.

You get the point

 

[AndrewNC]

When you allow something external to control and internal emotion, you give up control in your life... to chance.

I choose to remain in control and know I can be happy regardless of any external circumstances.

 

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[Vigilante]

Several threads on the form on this topic worth looking at. Here is one of them… And use the search function to find a few more.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/money-buys-happiness.36376/

 

[DeletedUser394]

 

[smartman]

"Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it."
-David Lee Roth

 

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[Mattie]

Happiness is an emotion, feeling, and experience. The excitement of an event might trigger the emotion. There's a zillion things in the world that can trigger the emotion of happiness. And it wears off.

 

[mws87]

The way I look at it - money can buy time via freedom. All I want is to enjoy my time. So, technically speaking, it can buy happiness for me.

 

[juturna]

Money can only do so much for you.

 

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[Deleted21961]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...-rich-happy-not-way-offers-advice-others.html
'I'm wealthy BECAUSE I'm happy': Billionaire Richard Branson claims he owes his success to being content...

 

[luniac]

As long as your happiness comes from something money can buy.

 

[Imgal]

The way I look at it - money can buy time via freedom. All I want is to enjoy my time. So, technically speaking, it can buy happiness for me.

This is exactly how I feel. I grew up around grandparents who had next to nothing. When they rented their first home (more like empty room in an old farm building) all they had left after paying the down payment was £1 to their names. They always got by and worked harder than anyone I knew, but always just scrapped by. They were the people who shaped me most and nurtured the best parts of me, but they did really have a thing against people who had a lot of money. It wasn't so much the people themselves, but not being able to afford it I could tell they frowned upon all the frivolity and "pointless" spending (who really needs 3 superyachts etc.

I didn't realise for a long time, but it created something of a limiting belief for me. I began to believe that having lots of money wasn't a good thing as it would make you just not appreciate the value of things so I'd basically put myself in a position where I just made enough to get by... which was actually fine in a material sense because I don't want all the shiny bling things. They just don't do it for me. It wasn't until I realised that money for me could bring me happiness, not in what I bought, but in the freedom it gave me to be able to add value to others lives through having the time to do it or the funds to help do it that it clicked in that money really isn't the root of all evilness, but can truly be a seed to creating happiness for me and others.

 

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[MMatt]

Usually those with little money boast how it doesn't buy happiness and defend how happy they are being broke.

Money is a variable that can reduce financial stress, increase freedom and in turn increase your happiness. Plain and simple.

 

[safff]

I do believe money can buy components of happiness. Cars are my passion, I would classify having a murcielago as having some happiness; it partly hangs on what you treasure in life.

For the most part; Money doesn't BUY happiness; it FACILITATES it.. There are still other factors; but with Money it is a hell of a lot easier...

Less stress and more energy to put into your relationships; having the ability to have down time from relationships. Everyone needs it, time away from your family to be just you instead of the husband, father, etc. The less money you have, the more your relationship downtime comes in the form of time spent at work, and the more your relationship time becomes about the worry of money with little left in the middle to just 'be'.

 

[DtRockstar1]

These are very good responses, guys! I think money can help you toward happiness as long as you don't have to work 16 hours a day in a job you hate to get it. That's not buying time, quite the opposite. But if money is freeing your time, then it can help you with happiness.

 

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[Delmania]

To paraphrase Alan Weiss, wealth is not money. Wealth is having the ability to spend your time, doing the things you want, with the people you love. Money is merely the means to that end. If you read the book, MJ mentions a tripod of wealth that essentially echoes the same sentiment.

Those people who are miserable millionaires have never stopped to ask reflect on what truly makes them happy and how much they need to support that.

 

[DeletedUser396]

The amount of money needed to live your ideal lifestyle.
That's the amount of money that will make you happier, even if you're a monk.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

 

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[mowealth]

Money doesn't buy happiness? Does being broke?

 

[Joe Middleton]

This is an interesting debate. Money can buy you Happiness! Provided you paid me tell you this:

Happiness is an internal state of mind. If you are reliant on external things to supplement your own internal well being then you are a fool. It is a choice you can make no matter how dire your circumstance.
Just remember to strive to be the best you can be irrespective of the obstacles that stand in your way.

 

[Supercar Ace]

In my eyes money is a means to and end, and not the end itself. As mentioned earlier, money is a tool to help facilitate happiness, with it you can buy experiences, financial freedom and less stress.

I consider myself a happy person in general, so weather I have $5 or $5 million, I'll be happy because to me the family, friends, and experiences I have had in life are what add to my happiness. I also have great ambition, and having an impossible goal yet making progress towards it and achieving it makes for great happiness as well.

As a car guy, part of my happiness is having 8 Lambo's in the garage. Not just for the sake of it, but because those cars are things I truly enjoy and want to enjoy with others as well. If you're internal happiness gauge relies too much on external factors you'll find yourself being a "happiness slave" to external gratification. I think that's why Sir Richard Branson says he's wealthy because he's happy...He doesn't need to buy the next yacht or private jet to be happy, he has enough good things (people, experiences, etc) in his life so he doesn't wind up blowing his money and wealth trying to fill the void.

My 2 cents

 

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[Andy Black]

"Happiness = Reality - Expectation"

(Doberman Dan)

 

[theag]

Black.

[HASHTAG]#landfill[/HASHTAG] unless OP proves he is financially independent and still unhappy.

[HASHTAG]#opandhisfriendsarementalmasturbators[/HASHTAG]

 

[jon.a]

Black.

[HASHTAG]#landfill[/HASHTAG] unless OP proves he is financially independent and still unhappy.

[HASHTAG]#opandhisfriendsarementalmasturbators[/HASHTAG]

Hows about, comfortable and grumpy?

 

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[theag]

Hows about, comfortable and grumpy?

Maybe @Vigilante can chime in on this.

 

[Jake]

Money allows you to spend your time as you choose too. If you find happiness in your free time then money can buy happiness. If you're miserable unless someone is telling you what to do then no, you won't be happy with money.

I enjoy doing what I want and living where I want so money buys me happiness as it buys me time to do whatever it is that I want to do. I don't need a $million car I need to be able to open up www.homeaway.com and and airline website and go whereever I wish to whenever I want to..that makes me happy

Edit: decided to look some places up. Was thinking about bringing my daughter to Tokyo or Hong Kong Disney during April but somewhere like this may be a good substitute http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p3748155

Love this website

 

[MJ DeMarco]

FYI, another older link that has the same discussion.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/money-buys-happiness.36376/

 

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[Mattie]

Obviously at either end of the spectrum people can be depressed and not happy for different reasons. You can be alone on both ends of the spectrum for different reasons. Everyone has a different definition of what makes them happy. Some people I've noticed choose to be poor on purpose even if they are in the same place as us to a degree and want to live off the grid. And others who choose to be millionaires and billionaires.

Money solves problems.
Saves you from going through certain experiences.
Lack of money wears on mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health for most people.

I usually avoid conversations that usually are about me stopping what I'm doing, because I see more freedom in having money and not allowing others to have control over my future. I suppose it's more about freedom.

Happiness is more about helping people for me. That's what I'm passionate about. I suppose paying it forward. I suppose I remember to many people invested in me to get here today. No I don't owe them anything. My professors saw something in me, put on the authoritarian approach and pushed me to my limits, and I suppose I remember the things they said to me before I left. And my goal was having my face on the wall at the school. lol They take photographs of the students that have achieved their greatness in the community on the walls of every hall way. It sounds ridiculous. Not that I need to do it, but I've never seen one that actually made it above slow lane, or who was famous. Ha Ha! I guess it's kind of a Challenge to do something bigger than most students have there. And perhaps to present a mark excellence. Just to say to other students in the middle of their hardships you can do the impossible if you just believe and stretch beyond the stars.

Happiness is living up to those who have invested in me, put their time and energy into co-create your success. All of them invested in me, many different people all lover the globe. Giving back to the world is paying it forward. Even in this forum, people have contributed. I have to be happy for the experience to have been blessed with so many opportunities, and people in life. I know many people don't always have it, until you walk in their life and pay it forward.

 

[ddzc]

Money can't buy happiness? This is the biggest load of shit ever [HASHTAG]#landfill[/HASHTAG]