How much do you really need to be happy?

Greater income reduces the stress of daily / monthly financial management. If an unexpected expense hits, then it doesn't rock the boat nearly as much. The peace of mind of greater income is a large contributor to the 'happiness' factor. Yes, it allows for bigger trips or more gadgets or nicer homes...but those are quite temporary spikes in happiness.

The big tradeoff for higher income is when time gets crushed. If you have no time to enjoy anything else than what is producing the income, then it can quickly devolve into a poor situation.

There isn';t a right or wrong number...it has a lot of factors most commonly area of the country and size of household. $75K for a family of 5 in NYC versus HH of 2 in Birmingham, AL are two very different circumstances and QOL.

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Even though I'm happy and have all my needs met for the most part, back in my early 20s I thought all my financial problems would be solved whenever I made it to $100k. I crossed that threshold in my mid 30s, but by that time I had gotten married and had two kids. Because of all that, $100k didn't seem that much to me once I reached it. I go to work every day feeling like I'm underpaid.

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this is the great middle class self perception issue. you see it all the time on here.

100% is certainly top 20% but people who make it often feel like they're hardly making ends meet and strongly "middle" class (when they're upper upper middle class)

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his is the great middle class self perception issue. you see it all the time on here.

100% is certainly top 20% but people who make it often feel like they're hardly making ends meet and strongly "middle" class (when they're upper upper middle class)

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Oh, I fully understand where I stand compared to the rest of the world's population. I'm just saying that I would feel like I would have a lot more money if I was single. My goal was to be retired in my mid 50s. I don't think I'll make that at this point.

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Which, I submit, likely has more to do with the "spending" side of the equation than the "income" side for most people. It's easy to get sucked into good ol' fashioned American hyperconsumerism.

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bingo
reduce your expenses/debt and you'll be shocked at the change in your quality of life. a life without bills is pretty fricking nice

Probably only around $45k. Honestly, if decent healthcare wasn't tied to being a W2 employee, I would've down-shifted to part time by now.

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Me: 50-60k easily

My wife: No limit

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This.

150K baw. This allows me to save for retirement, live in the house I want, drive the vehicle I want to drive, go on the trips I want to go on and save for my kid's college. I'm at 150K now and I'm at the point where I wouldn't trade anymore of my time being at work for additional compensation. I'm not at all saying I would be a miserable person for less than this income amount I would adjust accordingly.

I'm guessing $80k will be pretty comfortable (family of 4). In less than 2 years I'll give it a shot on $70k pension and see how little we can draw down on taxable investments while living nicely. Quality time is greater than $ at this point.