2947: [Part 1] Does Money Buy Happiness? by Ryan of Arrest Your Debt on Ideal Income for Life Satisfaction

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[00:01:52] how you may think. Studies show there is an optimal amount of money that a person in the

[00:01:58] United States needs to make in order to maximize their happiness. The more money you make,

[00:02:04] the happier you will be, up to a certain amount. Originally, when I found this out,

[00:02:10] I figured the magic number would be somewhere around $200,000 or $300,000 a year. I could

[00:02:16] definitely buy enough stuff to keep me happy with that kind of salary. After researching further,

[00:02:22] I found that the magic number is much more achievable than that. The amount of money you

[00:02:27] need to make each year in order to optimize happiness? $75,000 a year. The study from

[00:02:34] Nature Human Behavior Journal found that from $20,000 to $50,000 a year, you are twice as likely

[00:02:41] to be satisfied and content with life. But that happiness increase starts to plateau around $75,000.

[00:02:50] Basic human needs dictate happiness. So you're telling me if I made $200,000 a year,

[00:02:57] I wouldn't be that much more happy than if I made $75,000 a year? Yes. Yes, I am. The reason for

[00:03:05] the dramatic increase in happiness from $20,000 to $50,000 is due to basic human needs being met at

[00:03:12] $50,000, such as clothing, food, and shelter. After the $50,000 mark, you start to fill your life with

[00:03:20] more toys, which equate to wants rather than needs. I know I may not be making a believer out of some

[00:03:26] of you, because on the surface, I also feel I would be much happier if I made $200,000 a year.

[00:03:33] However, to further illustrate the point, right now in your life, are you truly happy and satisfied?

[00:03:39] Are you beaming with happiness every day and fully content with every aspect of your life?

[00:03:45] If so, I congratulate you because you are a unicorn. The unfortunate reality is,

[00:03:52] Americans are the number one consumer of antidepressants in the world,

[00:03:56] yet we are some of the most wealthy individuals on the planet. Don't limit yourself to a number.

[00:04:03] Now, just because you don't make $75,000 a year doesn't mean you can't be happy. In fact,

[00:04:09] some of the happiest people on the planet make much less than that a year. The study,

[00:04:14] focused on wealthy countries and income earners, found that if we are strictly looking at emotional

[00:04:19] well-being in direct relation to money, happiness only increases to a certain point.

[00:04:25] We are our own worst enemy. Human beings are very adaptive in nature, which is a primary cause for

[00:04:34] our overall discontent. Remember when you switched from a flip phone to a smartphone? Those Blackberries

[00:04:41] were out of this world. I remember using the side scroller and texting on a keypad and feeling like

[00:04:47] I had reached the pinnacle of my cell phone days. That is until Apple produced the iPhone. The iPhone

[00:04:54] and others blew Blackberries out of the water. The same can be said for how cool pagers were in high

[00:05:01] school. That was the thing to have, and you were nobody if you didn't have one. Fast forward just

[00:05:07] a couple of years, and you know how the pager story played out. Each year we get bigger and better,

[00:05:13] then smaller and better, then bigger and better again. More money, more problems.

[00:05:19] The more money you make, the more toys you can and will buy. That flat screen keeps getting bigger

[00:05:26] because your old 50-inch screen looks so small compared to the new 80-inch ones. Sure, you can go

[00:05:32] on big expensive vacations more often, but remember when going to the beach in California as a kid was

[00:05:38] the best thing ever? Now you have to go to Europe to get that same high. The truth is, we will never have

[00:05:44] enough money if we don't focus on being content with what we have. Our newest purchases rarely

[00:05:50] satisfy us for long, so let's slow down and be thankful for what we have. For goodness sake,

[00:05:57] much of the world doesn't even have clean water to drink, yet we have it plumbed straight into our

[00:06:02] homes. To be continued. You just listened to part one of the post titled, Does Money Buy Happiness?

[00:06:14] Answered by Ryan of ArrestYourDebt.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:20] I truly believe that the answer to our insatiable desire for more money, more stuff, bigger houses,

[00:06:29] fancier cars, etc. is developing appreciation for the material abundance we already have.

[00:06:36] While I agree with the famous quote that comparison is the thief of joy,

[00:06:40] that all depends on who you're comparing yourself to. If you compare yourself to the Kardashians and

[00:06:47] other examples of extreme wealth, you're likely to feel inadequate. But if you consider that at one

[00:06:53] point the World Bank reported that half the people on the planet are living on less than $5 per day,

[00:07:00] you can start to appreciate how fortunate you are. If you're listening to this, you likely have

[00:07:06] running water, a roof over your head, easy access to food and clothing, and an internet connection.

[00:07:13] In comparison to the unimaginable amount of people on this planet who are living in real poverty,

[00:07:21] you are absolutely crushing it. While you may feel that you're living modestly compared to your

[00:07:27] neighbors, friends, or family, you are living like a king in comparison to many others.

[00:07:33] If you can stay rooted in gratitude for that reality, it acts as a force field against the

[00:07:40] onslaught of advertising that is trying to convince you that you aren't already living in incredible

[00:07:48] abundance. But we're just halfway through the article. So for now, have a great rest of your day.

[00:07:54] And I'll see you tomorrow where we'll finish up this post and where your optimal life awaits.