Money Can Buy Happiness - to a point

[MicHughV]

Much truth to the above statement. I too, know some well off people, for whom money is no object, but are they happy ??? From my point of view, the answer is no. Money can buy the big house, the fancy car, etc, but the reality is that for many of these well heeled people, as rich as they are, they have huge monthly financial obligations that need to be fed, requiring a steady stream of income every month, which is hard to maintain. One hiccup and the whole house of cards fall down.

Switching gears, some many, many years ago, I came across an elderly couple, who had both been diagnosed with some or other terminal disease and given 6 months to get their affairs in order. They decided to go out in a blaze of glory and with what little money they had, they bought a decrepit old sailboat and headed for the B'mas. Here the cruising community rallied around them and supported them however they could and the 6 months grew into a year, then two years, etc.
I lost track of them after a while, but heard thru' the grapevine, that they lasted quite a long time, having the time of their life to boot.
I'm sure there is moral to the story here, but I am unable to put it into words.

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Spotted last week at Galeria Arte, a very nice restaurant in Barra de Navidad MX. The owner is a Canadian who married a Mexican and they jointly opened the restaurant.

That's cute. Considering how sweet and kind most Mexicans seem to be, that's probably true

[SomeGuyInaShirt]

I know I'd be a lot happier if I could just buy a new boat and have endless cruising funds and maybe a jetski as a dinghy haha

[S/V Illusion]

A greater truth -people who philosophize over mutually exclusive things always have too much free time and waste it.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by SomeGuyInaShirt

I know I'd be a lot happier if I could just buy a new boat and have endless cruising funds and maybe a jetski as a dinghy haha

Two nights ago, a guy on a $3m trawleryacht asked if I'd assist with some charging issues he was having. He was so frustrated he was close to swapping his boat for my 1970 36 foot trawler.

It's relatively easy to buy a boat. Keeping it running is a different matter, especially in remote locations such as where I am 1400 nms south of San Diego.

[Mike OReilly]

We all have personal experiences, but as I often say, anecdotes are the worst kind of data. Sample size is usually too small to be meaningful, and they are fraught with bias problems.

The paper is the latest attempt to get at this question, and I appreciate the effort and the findings. Contrary to previous research, and what I've often touted, there does seem to be a clear relationship of more wealth and more happiness.

But as the paper says, it's much more nuanced than a simple 1 to 1 correlation. For some groups, more money is a plus. For others, there is the levelling out after a certain amount. It's not simple... And as the authors also stress, the total relationship is weak overall.

A lot of factors go into "happiness", and some are way stronger than money or wealth. According to the findings of the longest-running study on happiness, the most important factor is the connection we have to others.

“Contrary to what many people think, it’s not career achievement, or exercise, or a healthy diet,” write the authors—though those things matter, too, they add. Instead, “one thing continuously demonstrates its broad and enduring importance: Good relationships.” ... “People who are more connected to family, to friends, and to community, are happier and physically healthier than people who are less well connected,”

[Sailorichiban]

Regarding the Mexican bar;
No Bacardi in sight, what kind of happiness is that?

I recall introducing beach cat sailing to a local younger female, she was terrified. The suggestion was made, in response to my statement that I should have brought some courage for her, ply her with Cuba libre beforehand. Tried it, worked great, didn’t go sailing that day but was very happy 😊.
Life is what you make it.
Best to all !

[boatman61]

Seems there's people chasing happiness on Amazon selling AI generated books about the type of cancer King Charles has.. no two are the same..
Suckers born every day..

[GordMay]

According to a study, conducted in 2022, individuals from medium and high income groups were more likely to report being happy, or satisfied with their lives, compared to those earning less.
That year, around 57 percent of low income individuals said they were satisfied with their lives, while the share of high earners who stated the same was 71 percent.
This statistic shows the share of individuals worldwide reporting they were happy or satisfied with their lives in 2022, by income group.
Life satisfaction and happiness worldwide in 2022, by income group
➥ https://www.statista.com/statistics/...-income-group/


World Happiness Report 2023
➥ https://wellbeingintl.org/world-happ...CAAEgJTfPD_BwE

WHR 2023 Executive Summary
➥ https://worldhappiness.report/ed/202...utive-summary/

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by davefromoregon

Money equals lack of fear.
Lack of money invites fear.
Fear is the antithesis of happiness.

IMO it's the exact opposite. Those who have money have fear of losing it. And that fear is constant. And manifests itself in being glued to stock market fluxes, liability insurance worries, interactions with attorneys, 24/7 massive security measures all around them, etc etc.

This I realized one day when watching 6-7 year olds play on the street at a beachfront section of Margarita Island in Venezuela in the early 90s. They were visibly dirt poor, some shoeless, and all looked underniurished (by US standards of course, probably normal everywhere else). But the happiness on their faces was so striking that I took a photo. Being nondigital camera age I have since misplaced that paper photo but still hope I can find it as it most definitely can be an illustration for "happiness" entry in wikipedia.

[GordMay]

Psychologists [and statisticians & others] often use the Cantril self-anchoring striving scale [or ‘Cantril ladder’] to measure people’s attitudes, towards their life and its components, in various respects [subjective life satisfaction, and emotional well-being*].

The original scale contains a ladder with 11 steps, and the end points of the scale are self defined & reported, by the respondents, in terms of their best, and their worst life experience[s].
The instrument is part of the ongoing Gallup World Poll, which has collected more than 2.5 million responses to this question, in nearly all countries in the world, since 2005, and forms the basis for the annual country well-being rankings, in the World Happiness Report.

“How Gallup Uses the Cantril Scale”
Development of the "Thriving, Struggling, Suffering" categories
➥ https://news.gallup.com/poll/122453/...ril-scale.aspx

”... Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top.
The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you.
On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time? (ladder-present)
On which step do you think you will stand about five years from now? (ladder-future) ...

... Gallup formed three distinct (and independent) groups, for summary purposes:

Thriving -- well-being that is strong, consistent, and progressing. These respondents have positive views of their present life situation (7+) and have positive views of the next five years (8+). They report significantly fewer health problems, fewer sick days, less worry, stress, sadness, anger, and more happiness, enjoyment, interest, and respect.

Struggling -- well-being that is moderate or inconsistent. These respondents have moderate views of their present life situation OR moderate OR negative views of their future. They are either struggling in the present, or expect to struggle in the future. They report more daily stress and worry about money than the "thriving" respondents, and more than double the amount of sick days. They are more likely to smoke, and are less likely to eat healthy.

Suffering -- well-being that is at high risk. These respondents have poor ratings of their current life situation (4 and below) AND negative views of the next five years (4 and below). They are more likely to report lacking the basics of food and shelter, more likely to have physical pain, a lot of stress, worry, sadness, and anger. They have less access to health insurance and care, and more than double the disease burden, in comparison to "thriving" respondents. ...”

* Life satisfaction and emotional well-being are two important, but different, components of subjective well-being. Emotional well-being refers to the frequency and intensity of daily positive and negative experiences, whereas life satisfaction generally refers to a longer-term assessment of one’s life. The two are connected but different.

In the vernacular [common, colloquial language], we often refer to these as “happiness”.
However, the Cantril Ladder could be, just as easily, be taken as a measure of "misery".

See also “World Happiness Report FAQ”
➥ https://worldhappiness.report/faq/

[GordMay]

Richer people tend to say they are happier than poorer people; richer countries tend to have higher average happiness levels; and across time, most countries, that have experienced sustained economic growth, have seen increasing happiness levels.
So, the evidence suggests that income, and life satisfaction, tend to go together [which still doesn’t mean they are one and the same].

The exception is people who are financially well-off, but unhappy. For instance, if you’re rich and miserable, more money won’t help.
For everyone else, more money was associated with higher happiness, to somewhat varying degrees.

Specifically, for the least happy group, happiness rises with income, until $100,000, then shows no further increase, as income grows.
For those in the middle range [of emotional well-being], happiness increases linearly with income.
And, for the happiest group, the association actually accelerates, above $100,000.

[davil]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

IMO it's the exact opposite. Those who have money have fear of losing it. And that fear is constant. And manifests itself in being glued to stock market fluxes, liability insurance worries, interactions with attorneys, 24/7 massive security measures all around them, etc etc.

This I realized one day when watching 6-7 year olds play on the street at a beachfront section of Margarita Island in Venezuela in the early 90s. They were visibly dirt poor, some shoeless, and all looked underniurished (by US standards of course, probably normal everywhere else). But the happiness on their faces was so striking that I took a photo. Being nondigital camera age I have since misplaced that paper photo but still hope I can find it as it most definitely can be an illustration for "happiness" entry in wikipedia.

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something like this?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The only time people with money don't understand they aren't happy is when they lose it all.

I never have understood why some think is a badge of honor to not have money. Is it to tell themselves it is OK because they couldn't make more money?

I have been poor and it is WAY happier to to have money!

Don.. by third world standards you don't know what poor is..
I never understand why many think wealth is a badge of honour, it's usually gained at the expense of others.
Low wages, unfair taxation, exclusion to name a few factors.
Politicians claim to work for the benefit of the people and country but really they are working for the 5% and only care about the rest once every 4yrs when they want your vote.
Let's face it, you can be totally useless at a high profile job and bring a company to near bankruptcy yet, when your dismissed you walk away with a 7 figure golden handshake whereas the guy on the shop floor would just get hours worked and barred from benefits for being sacked.
A PM can earn £2.2 million yet only pay the same tax as a teacher because the systems rigged to keep people down.
Another PM brought in the Minimum Wage hailing it as raising people out of poverty.. what a joke.
In actual fact it was a cynical ploy to increase profits and shareholders bonuses through legalising low pay but hell, he was a good salesman and the public bought it.
Rich folk constantly try to justify their wealth and how good they are but really it's just acquired and maintained/grown through a more sophisticated form of colonialism using money as its weapon to subjugate the rest.

[Portage_bay]

Sign over the office in a recycled building materials business.

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Ever noticed that some of the most uptight people in the anchorage are the folks with the expensive boats that are always polishing and waxing?.....Big, beautiful boat with all the toys nice and shiny, but not enjoying the cruising life.