re: money is not the key to happiness

Life is too short to work at a miserable job just for the money. You’ll make others miserable and die young doing that.

As far as ‘boring’ jobs, that’s a different story and needs to be weighed against the $.

Money doesn’t buy happiness but it sure keeps some of the unhappiness away.

If I made a million dollars a year I would be a whole lot happier. I would definitely only tell my wife we make $350K a year and just bank the rest so I would never have to stress again

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Money helps to a point. There have been studies that quantify this, but basically they all seem to indicate it’s somewhere around the median household income.

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This IMO. Money matters a hell of a lot when you are making $32k a year and struggling to make rent. It matters less when you are making $100k and "worrying" about a new Tahoe note or paying for a trip to the islands.

I had a chance to expand a small business I owned one time. Was given the chance to take an investor and go from a nice life/work balance and three 1099 employees to a 50-100 person expansion and move into a nationwide market. I was making $150k salary off the business at the time. Investor was going to bump my salary $70k to $220k annually. I declined. Diminishing returns. But if he had said $500k annually? Hell yes. It's all relative.

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If I made a million dollars a year I would be a whole lot happier.

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Meh, it's not as good as you think it is...

bullshite

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This is a fallacy, at least to an extent. When you make more money, you end up increasing your wasteful spending without realizing it. You're sometimes left wondering how you appear to be in the same position, financially, as when you were making less. You have to be careful here, because if you're in this position including being unhappy, you're left feeling helpless.

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Which is why I said it’s not the only thing that matters and that it’s a means to an end. If you gave me a million dollars right now, I absolutely promise you it would relieve a ton of stress and anxiety and make my family happier for the foreseeable future.

There is a certain level of income/SOL where this becomes true. Being poor sucks arse though.

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Lots of rich folks get diagnosed wit cancer that no amount of money can cure. While we’re sleeping tight at night in our 2,000 sq ft homes, some very wealthy people can’t sleep in their mansions because they’re worried about not watching their nanny raise their kids for them due to the cancer taking them too soon.

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Poor people get cancer too. And major stressors like that are much worse when you have all the other shite to worry about too. Having money clears your plate of all the bullshite so when you have a major life event, you ONLY have to worry about that.

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Who’s happier a homeless person or a person with money?

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I'll stick with the open steppe, a fleet horse, falcons at my wrist, and the wind in my hair over money any day

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Money is the key to instant gratification but not caring what others think is the key to true happiness in my opinion.

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It's a lot easier to not care what others think when you're not spending a good portion of your day wondering where rent money is coming or how long your car can run before it dies and how to afford a new one. Or an example that I used with my wife a while back when we had to pay a large vet bill. There were customers that same day who had to beg for a payment plan to have their animal treated for like a $150 bill, and we dropped over $1k without any worry or concern about how this affects our day-to-day life or financial future.

THAT makes a huge difference in how enjoyable life is. I can't imagine having to let my dog die because I couldn't afford to have him treated, and all the stress and guilt.

I grew up relatively poor and it sucked. I only now really appreciate what my mom sacrificed and how little we knew about some close calls with unexpected bills that almost had her lose our house and put us on the street. Being poor fricking sucks and makes happiness incredibly difficult b/c of all the pressure and stress and uncertainty.