Whether having a lot of money leads to happiness depends on how much you have specifically.
You have certainly heard the saying “Money can’t buy happiness” many times, and you may have also encountered the perspective that money can do many things to make us happy. This story, seemingly dependent on individual life views and philosophies, has been seriously explored by psychologists and economists seeking answers.
In 2010, Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and psychologist, proposed the hypothesis of a “happiness plateau” concerning money. He suggested that once household income reaches $75,000 per year (around 1.8 billion VND), earning more money does not increase happiness.
Eleven years later, researcher Matthew Killingsworth published a study that contradicted Kahneman’s findings. He conducted surveys and concluded that happiness increases with income, and there is no evidence of a “sacred amount of money” that leads to satisfaction.
Having more money can improve our mental health.
Now, these two experts have collaborated on a project called “adversarial collaboration”, revealing a new study that shows both of them are somewhat correct. However, after all, Killingsworth is marginally more accurate: for most people, earning more money does make you happier.
The new research conducted by these two leading experts was extensive and yielded the result that the more money people have, the more mentally satisfied they are. However, happiness seems to increase steadily only until household income reaches $100,000 (approximately 2.3 billion VND). Beyond this threshold, the sense of happiness abruptly levels off, as certain issues arise that money cannot resolve.
For individuals experiencing an “average happiness” sentiment, happiness increases in proportion to income but slows down after reaching $100,000. For those who are already very happy (possibly due to factors beyond finances), their sense of happiness can still grow even after achieving an income of $100,000. The study did not examine individuals earning over $500,000, so we still do not know whether space travel makes Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk genuinely satisfied.
Not facing a cost crisis will make us more comfortable.
Regardless, this research suggests that you do not need a sports car or a private jet to be happy; however, you still need housing and stability, which are increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain today. Issues such as inflation, the cost of raising children, high housing costs, and retirement expenses are becoming more complex, adding pressure on those in the workforce.
Unless you are a billionaire living on a yacht with a team of chefs, bodyguards, and personal attendants, this is indeed the common perspective of today’s society. Most people are well aware that it is not necessary to become a billionaire; avoiding the crisis of living costs or stress over monthly bills will be beneficial for our mental health.
