Source 1 ) Why Rich People Really Aren't Happier
By Dayana Yochim (2009)
In so many areas, we know when enough is enough. When we're healthy, we don't strive for extreme health. After a good
meal, we're sated -- we don't order another filet mignon to augment our satisfaction.Yet our "pause" button shorts out
when it comes to money. We get a raise, spend it, adapt to our improved circumstances, and seek more money, working
up a sweat on what University of Southern California economist Richard Easterlin calls the hedonic treadmill. But
somehow the happy-o-meter stays in the same place, or even slows down. Consider that the average American is less
satisfied with life today than we were in the 1950s -- yet we earn twice as much (and, yes, that's adjusted for inflation). No
wonder they never crown a winner of the rat race.
Absent total emotion recall and the ability to recognize when we've hit our happy set point, what will make us happy?
How's $50,000 a year sound? That's the contentment calculation from a Roper/ASW survey a few years ago.It's enough to
cover the bills and have some fun money left over too.After that, each incremental move up the pay scale has less longterm emotional impact. A 20% raise won't make you 20% happier. And, in fact, chasing that extra 10 grand might just
make you miserable.
Adapted from http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/saving/why-rich-people-really-arent-happier.aspx
_____________________________________________________________________________
Source2) Are the Wealthy Really Happier?
By Jack Ewing (2005)
As many Americans can attest, a fast-growing economy can also bring stress, dislocation, and damaged relationships.
Layard even argues that high taxes can be good in rich societies because they discourage people from working too much
and encourage them instead to (presumably) spend more time with their families. "Do we really want people to work
harder when the main source of happiness is relationships?" he asked at a dinner in a Davos hotel. The problem simply is
wealth doesn't necessarily do many things, such as help you find a mate or a job that's satisfying as well as remunerative.
"We have gotten wealthier, but we have made mistakes," Schiller said as his mostly affluent listeners ate risotto.
Adapted from http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2005/nf20050127_1802.htm
______________________________________________________________________________
Source 3) Wealth Brings Happiness
By Unknown (webpage title: Healthypages) (2007)
A Harvard University psychologist wrote in his book 'Stumbling on Happiness' that "Psychologists have spent decades
studying the relation between wealth and happiness and they have generally concluded that wealth increases human
happiness when it lifts people out of abject poverty and into the middle class but that it does little to increase happiness
thereafter."
In a global survey, people were asked to describe their level of happiness on a scale of 1 to 7. 1 was "not at all satisfied
with my life" and 7 meant "completely satisfied." These results confirmed what the psychologists had thought, that
happiness increases significantly only when a person is raised out of abject poverty to a reasonable level but does not
increase further from there.
Adapted from http://www.healthypages.co.uk/newsitem.php?news=5646
Source 4) New Study Says the Excessively Rich Aren't Any Happier. So Who Is?
By Sara Novak (2010)
When Princeton University released a study showing that people needed an annual income of $75,000 per year per
household and no more to be happy, I wasn't that surprised. Above that amount, more cash has no effect on "emotional
well-being," or how elated, sad or stressed you feel on a day-to-day basis, according to the research. According to the
Washington Post, people have a threshold of financial security and material well-being and once they've reached it, there
are diminishing returns on salaries exceeding that amount. Financial security is certainly an aspect of happiness. That is-paying mortgage or rent, utilities, food, and then whatever is left over for savings--but beyond that, money has little
bearing on our outlook and overall happiness.
Adapted from http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/new-study-says-the-excessively-rich-arent-any-happier-sowho-is.html#
______________________________________________________________________________
Source 5) People tell you that wealth does not lead to happiness. New research shows they're wrong
Daniel Finkelstein (2008)
In a 1974 paper, the economist Richard Easterlin presented empirical evidence on income and happiness that was pretty
puzzling. Using surveys of how happy people say that they are, the paper seemed to show that within countries, the richer
people are, the happier they are, but that between countries the same didn't hold. What this suggests is that being relatively
rich compared to your fellow countrymen makes you happier, but that your absolute wealth doesn't matter. Once a
minimum income level is reached, an amount necessary for a country's residents to subsist, all that extra economic growth
doesn't appear to be improving life satisfaction.
The implications of Easterlin's discovery are pretty strong. It suggests that all this consumption is doing us no good. That
is what the Christian MPs suggest, questioning whether we haven't sacrificed family life on the altar of capitalism.
Adapted from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/daniel_finkelstein/article3926998.ece