So money does buy happiness . . .

[skull]

The way I look at things is if I was born 500 years ago. I'd be in a cold shack with little food huddled in one room with my family shitting in buckets. If you think about that as your baseline everything we have now is gravy. Stop worrying and be happy.

 

[ch33zw1z]

lol, whatever floats your boat. Im pragmatic, and its not 500 years ago. Its now, and my desire to do better for family drives me. more money would alleviate worries. thanks for the pep talk lol

 

[skull]

lol, whatever floats your boat. Im pragmatic, and its not 500 years ago. Its now, and my desire to do better for family drives me. more money would alleviate worries. thanks for the pep talk lol

You can still look at it like that in 3rd world countries they still live like that, so even poor your like a king even in the modern era.

 

[ch33zw1z]

You can still look at it like that in 3rd world countries they still live like that, so even poor your like a king even in the modern era.

you are free to choose that as your baseline. I choose to compare our society to other first world countries.

 

[skull]

Might want to start lowering your standards now no telling when the overinflated dollar will crash.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Might want to start lowering your standards now no telling when the overinflated dollar will crash.

stop worrying bruh

 

[skull]

Look I'm ironic like a hipster.

 

[ch33zw1z]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[purbeast0]

So tell us how has being rich made you happy? or are you just a shallow person that thinks money will make you happy?

I'm not rich but I'm well off. And making more money as I've progressed in my career has allowed me to buy more toys and go on a lot of vacations. And I can tell you that all of those toys and vacations are shit tons of fun which in turn have given me a lot of happiness and joy.

And that whole argument about $70k is the cut off point is total bullshit. First of all it doesn't even take cost of living into consideration. I can also tell you that I started my career making $48k/yr and am well well over $70k now, and I'm a lot more happier and comfortable making what I make now than I was when I was making $70k.

 

[Geekbabe]

I didn't mean any offense. I just read a review of the movie and heard good things about it. When you mentioned your situation, it reminded me of that movie. I was commenting on the movie and not your life. That's all.

Thank you for clarifying, unfortunately text based medium makes it hard to read tone. I think I will be avoiding that movie for sure

 

[Perknose]

Billion doesn’t buy much, does it?

She​

Cleans​

Up​

Well​

 

[DominionSeraph]

I'm not rich but I'm well off. And making more money as I've progressed in my career has allowed me to buy more toys and go on a lot of vacations. And I can tell you that all of those toys and vacations are shit tons of fun which in turn have given me a lot of happiness and joy.

And that whole argument about $70k is the cut off point is total bullshit. First of all it doesn't even take cost of living into consideration. I can also tell you that I started my career making $48k/yr and am well well over $70k now, and I'm a lot more happier and comfortable making what I make now than I was when I was making $70k.

Ah, but did money buy you happiness, or did you simply decide you needed to make a certain amount and so were unhappy as long as you made less than that? Needing to claw your way up just to get to normal isn't happiness, it's addiction.

 

[snoopy7548]

Money absolutely buys happiness, or at least paves the path to it. The problem is running out of it, which makes you sad. With enough money, you have total and complete freedom. You can pursue anything you desire without being encumbered by bills or debts or even chores and menial tasks.

 

[purbeast0]

Ah, but did money buy you happiness, or did you simply decide you needed to make a certain amount and so were unhappy as long as you made less than that? Needing to claw your way up just to get to normal isn't happiness, it's addiction.

Your problem is you are looking at it in extremes, as either being happy or unhappy. I never said I was unhappy.

 

[ch33zw1z]

ah yes, and before i forget, if money doesnt buy happiness, why do the wealthy have such a hard time parting with it?

 

[Mai72]

She​

Cleans​

Up​

Well​

C'mon dude.

She might be cute, but those pics are cleaned up. Get a picture of her at 5am when she just woke up and took a huge dump. I bet she ain't going to look so hot.

 

[Charmonium]

Hookers and blow buy happiness. Both accept money.

 

[skull]

ah yes, and before i forget, if money doesnt buy happiness, why do the wealthy have such a hard time parting with it?

You just disproved your own point. Money just leads to greed and people thinking they need lots of it. Thats the kind of thing that makes you miserable. Look at trump, greedy see through piece of shit, money wasn't enough he needed the power, now look where hes at, miserable life.

 

[skull]

I'm not rich but I'm well off. And making more money as I've progressed in my career has allowed me to buy more toys and go on a lot of vacations. And I can tell you that all of those toys and vacations are shit tons of fun which in turn have given me a lot of happiness and joy.

And that whole argument about $70k is the cut off point is total bullshit. First of all it doesn't even take cost of living into consideration. I can also tell you that I started my career making $48k/yr and am well well over $70k now, and I'm a lot more happier and comfortable making what I make now than I was when I was making $70k.

I get you there I don't need as much though, I prefer cheap used toys so I can wreck em and not care and versus a jail cell motel 6 is the shit. Going from 10k/yr to 30k/yr, made me feel comfortable.

 

[ch33zw1z]

You just disproved your own point. Money just leads to greed and people thinking they need lots of it. Thats the kind of thing that makes you miserable. Look at trump, greedy see through piece of shit, money wasn't enough he needed the power, now look where hes at, miserable life.

I didnt disprove my point, lol.

my happiness would be increased with funds sufficient to ease the worries i hold.

so in essence, money can buy happiness, which is also why people with plenty still dont prefer to give it up.

when the motivation for happiness becomes simply having the most money possible, thats the greed youre speaking of...not what Im stating relative to my position in life.

 

[Exterous]

ah yes, and before i forget, if money doesnt buy happiness, why do the wealthy have such a hard time parting with it?

Just because you don't want to part with something doesn't mean it brings happiness. I don't stare at the light bulbs in my house and think "These make me so darn happy" but I certainly wouldn't want to part with them either. There is a lot to be said for utility and replacement value

With enough money, you have total and complete freedom.

For many there also seems to be a cutoff point where too much money leads to riskier tendencies. Its kinda like being forced to play a game on the easiest difficulty - after a while its no longer fun to play. So people search for riskier and more unique experiences. Not channeled well these can take the form of drugs or delving into socially unacceptable behaviors. There might be something to say for a little bit of struggle or chores

 

[snoopy7548]

For many there also seems to be a cutoff point where too much money leads to riskier tendencies. Its kinda like being forced to play a game on the easiest difficulty - after a while its no longer fun to play. So people search for riskier and more unique experiences. Not channeled well these can take the form of drugs or delving into socially unacceptable behaviors. There might be something to say for a little bit of struggle or chores

True. I guess the chores and manual labor/work we do put things into perspective, something a lot of the uber-rich could use. I guess if I had unlimited money, I would get so bored of snowboarding all the famous mountains that I'd probably try backcountry and end up killing myself.

 

[Chaotic42]

For many there also seems to be a cutoff point where too much money leads to riskier tendencies. Its kinda like being forced to play a game on the easiest difficulty - after a while its no longer fun to play. So people search for riskier and more unique experiences. Not channeled well these can take the form of drugs or delving into socially unacceptable behaviors. There might be something to say for a little bit of struggle or chores

I definitely think this is true and it boggles my mind. There are too many worthwhile things to do with virtually unlimited money and lots of free time. When I read about people winning millions in the lottery and blowing it all on nothing, it makes me sick.

I'd have tons of land and be going to school for the rest of my life if I had a lot of money. If I were super rich, I'd be funding all sorts of education programs, charities, art, and research. If having more money makes your life worse, I have to think you're doing something wrong.

 

[child of wonder]

12 years ago I was just about to graduate with my Associate's Degree in Systems Administration worried about my future. My wife and I had two kids, she worked in a call center making $10/hr and I had to find my first IT job. The previous 3 years had been a massive struggle as I went to school full time and worked part time. We had to use programs like WIC and daycare assistance to make ends meet. Our best year we earned $30k combined.

Since then, my career has skyrocketed and I should clear over 10x this year what we made 12 years ago.

However, the amount of stress I feel today is easily 10x what I felt as a new Systems Admin back then and, being in sales, I'm never really "off the clock."

Is the extra money making me happier? Yes, and I love the feeling of accomplishment from having a kick ass career. I truly love my job and it pushes me to improve myself on a personal level all the time.

That being said, it takes a toll. My wife resents the time I work. Occasionally I have to travel out of town or take customers to a HH or dinner. Sometimes I have to answer the phone or work on a proposal, RFP, or presentation in the evening. While she hates the time I'm away, she thoroughly enjoys not thinking twice to get her nails done, buy clothes, or the fact that we'll likely spend $65k+ renovating our kitchen in February.

All in all, I think I can do a better job managing my time between work and home, I'm immensely happy in what I do, but it is a definite two edge sword. Of my 13 coworkers in town, all of whom also enjoy comparable success, I am only one of 4 that have never been divorced.

 

[Kaido]

Money is a funny thing because it is super important, yet at the same time, not all that important. Or rather, not that it's not important, but that it's not a very good purpose in life. It's great as a tool. It absolutely buys short-term happiness. But you can be miserable with lots of money too. The collective wisdom of the reddit threads I've seen discussing this topic is "being rich doesn't buy happiness, but it makes being unhappy a lot more comfortable", so you'll have to find your long-term happiness & your permanent happiness elsewhere. The pursuit of money can sometimes cloud judgement, too. Freakanomics had a good piece on drug dealing; the TL;DR is that the foot soldiers averaged $3.30 an hour & the officers made $7 an hour, and many crack dealers still lived with their moms:

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/24/opinion/oe-dubner24

I think of money as a representation of your time & effort from working, and if you've inherited wealth, then think of it as a gift that you shouldn't squander. I think it's important to live a lifestyle within your means & to manage it appropriately for your situation. I know plenty of people who do really well financially but don't go crazy on buying stuff, so they don't really have to even bother budgeting, but I also know plenty of people making $100k+ a year who are literally living paycheck to paycheck. At least in the United States, we have all kinds of predatory practices & traps out there to be aware of...credit cards with 26.99% APR, student loans with ridiculous payback terms, long-term financing that can double the original purchase price over time, etc., which can really cause a lot of stress. Finances are still one of the leading causes of divorce, last I read.

But no, I don't think money buys real happiness. Money can buy a lot of freedom, financially-speaking, but I think happiness really has more to do with other factors, even simple ones like attitude. There are plenty of people out there who are determined to be unhappy, and no amount of money will change that. I do think Mr. Simmons has some good points, with Maslow's hierarchy reducing financial stress as you go up the ladder, access to better healthcare, etc., but I don't think that money buys real, lasting happiness. For perspective, one thing to keep in mind is that he is offering advice as a guy who has made $300 million cosplaying while singing & being on TV since the 70's; I'd imagine it's hard not to live in an Ivory Tower-esqe bubble after being that wealthy for 40+ years & having a nearly billion-dollar merchandising brand.