It's funny, people always say "money can't buy happiness" and yet when it comes to talk about "rich people with problems" nobody seems to believe it.
Despite the ordinary prejudice against the wealthy that has developed over the past few years it is still a universal truth that life is a difficult thing, and figuring out how to lead a rewarding and fulfilling life even more so.
In my experience wealthy people != satisfied people.
Take heart! Plenty of marriages do endure. Community does exist. People can and do find joy and meaning in raising kids on paltry incomes. Friendship is possible!
Relationships can be more satisfying when you drop the expectation that your efforts will be reciprocated. Giving can be its own reward.
First, it's important to understand that once you have the basics, happiness comes primarily from healthy social connections and a sense of purpose.
Many people with jobs have a fantasy about all the amazing things they would do if they didn't need to work. In reality, if they had the drive and commitment to do actually do those things, they wouldn't let a job get in the way. Unfortunately, if given a lot of money, they are much more likely to end up addicted to crack, or even worse
I used to watch a lot of cable TV (10-20 hours a week) and from time to time I would hit upon one of those celebrity biographies. As much as they tried to spin it, suddenly becoming rich and famous usually destroyed people's lives.
Meanwhile, some family friends we know who never made a lot of money retired, joined an RV traveling community. Every year the same bunch of people take several months touring the country. It is not very expensive. They are having the time of their life.
The point is this: Paul's advice is good even without the money. Social interactions (I would add travel) and a sense of purpose are foundational to happiness.
Somebody said once that money is a magnifier. It takes whatever character traits you already have and exaggerates them. I'm not an expert or anything, and I'd certainly like to be better off than I am, but I'm willing to bet that giving 5 or 10 million bucks to most people would be about the same in the long run as shooting them in the head.
I have meet a lot of wealthy/successful people and trust me, they are way more happy than the poorer people I have meet. They've achieved their dream and can continue doing so. They have traveled, they given back, they create things, they are loved and they're happy.
>On your death bed you probably won't be looking over your life and decide whether it was worthwhile or not, and give yourself some report card on it. Instead you more likely won't even remember more than bits and pieces, and then eventually die and forget it all.
You're wrong about this one. The biggest regret for people on their death beds were having gone through life with goals unfulfilled. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five....
I've always found it funny how others like you label rich people as having a shit life. That they can't find true love and have to hire escorts etc.
Success is what makes you happy. That could be making a billion dollars or milking cows.
Most of people have huge dreams and goals they want to achieve, its just that most don't care and don't try.
There is something to that, but for most people the curve of happiness to money is not simply flat. For most there are sharp steps at have-enough-to-eat and don't-have-to-work-anymore, among others.
Does their life really suck though? It's probably harder with fewer luxuries but happiness is not proportional how much money you have/make. You could be a rich and miserable but you could also could be poor and happy/content.
A large portion of the population seems perfectly happy leading a simple life. You don't need to worry about financial ruin if you work a basic job and have no debt. Nobody finds them not caring about money interesting since that's the rule. Also, many have a hard time believing others have different desires and will only believe those who can "prove it" by foregoing something they have easy access to.
Acknowledging that material wealth isn't worth much was liberating, and I'm so glad it happened in my early 20s, people who never get out of this mindset must live miserable lives. You really don't need much to live an happy life, especially in the west and especially with IT salaries, if I could I'd work one day a week and that would suffice to maintain my lifestyle. The needs are easy to meet but the wants are limitless, you'll always feel like you're missing something as long as you don't control your emotions.
You'll never satisfy a need of something that has no limit, being around rich people will show you that. Two houses, three cars, the best schools for their kids, vacations in the best places, they're still miserable and most of them still work as much if not more than employees, if anything they're even more miserable than the average person because they live in fear of losing it all. Once you unlock the next level you discover it's just as empty as the one you came from, some people are too proud to acknowledge that and keep on climbing, they'll be miserable all the way to the grave because you don't cure that by accumulating goods
Take a break, breath in, and ponder on the reasons of your fears/desires. You might very well be sabotaging your well being in a futile quest for wealth, you can't lose the game if you're not playing it.
On top of that I'd say if wealth is your goal the best way to never get to it is to chase it directly. You can go through 20 startups creation, if your sole goal is personal wealth you'll most likely miss the point 20 times
> Life is well enough furnished, but we are too greedy with regard to its furnishings; something always seems to us lacking, and will always seem lacking. Seneca
Nothing you just said contradicts the point being made.
Most people have to work on things they don't necessarily find fulfilling. That doesn't mean certain wealthy people don't find hobbies which also happen to make them money.
Perhaps people who have managed to grow up without a lot of money better understand how to live a happy life with a job that doesn't pay $100k.
Let me quote a very famous person who grew up in poverty, Charles Dickens:
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.
One secret to being happy with a $30k or $40k salary is to maintain a healthy perspective on your social class: If you know that a lot of people struggle to live on $18k, your $30k salary will fell fantastically great. Whereas if everyone you meet has a $150k salary and a trust fund, you'd better have the same or you will feel poor. Happiness is relative. That's the entire point of this article.
It's not surprising to find that many of the happiest grad students are people for whom a grad student salary seems quite adequate, even generous.
You don't need to prove a statement like that. It's common knowledge the only people who are not miserable in the world have a net worth over $1B. Money, after all, is the one and only ingredient to happiness.
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