Can money buy happiness? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
Can money buy happiness? Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Generally speaking, research shows a pretty strong relationship between income and happiness at lower ends of the income spectrum. For instance, if you make $10,000 a year and suddenly you receive a $5000 raise, yes, your overall level of happiness is going to go up. However, if you’re making $100,000 a year and you get that same $5000 raise, odds are that your overall level of happiness is not going to change all that much. But, in my mind, the question of whether money can buy happiness kind of misses the point. The better question to ask yourself is: how can I be happier? Coming at it from this angle, we can identify income as one part of the happiness equation. If you don’t have enough money to cover your basic needs — that is, food, shelter, medical expenses, and other necessities — then thinking about ways to earn additional income is going to be an important step towards improving your overall quality of life.
