Does money really buy happiness?
Discussion
lizardbrain said:
I kind of fell into money with some lucky business decisions and it ruined my happiness for about 10 years.
Money gives you power to make choices that might otherwise by unavailable. These extra choices include many options that may make you unhappy.
Like most things you get better at making the better choices with experience.
Life is good now and money helps.
I feel I get where you’re coming from.Money gives you power to make choices that might otherwise by unavailable. These extra choices include many options that may make you unhappy.
Like most things you get better at making the better choices with experience.
Life is good now and money helps.
When we bought our first house we just drew circles over each other’s works and let them overlap about 3 miles and then picked roughly in that area haha.
Today we are free to live anywhere and when that area can become hundreds of miles across, and then picking good schools… you can take weeks just looking at an area to then decide it’s not for you.
Ultimately you realise happiness isn’t always about the decision, but what you do irrespective of the choice you made.
And when you think about it, a lot of the biggest things that happen and effect our lives are things we didn’t choose, and yet we integrate them and are usually happy any way.
I believe some older Hindu/Buddhist methodology suggests thinking for only a short time and if the decision can’t be made in that time, roll a dice in essence. Let chance determine the outcome.
Wasting energy pontificating ultimately brings unhappiness.
Im in a position where my spend is far less than my income. However I am not on a high wage (30-35k ish) but i have no kids or wife so little to spend it on. I used that difference in income to buy assets that generate income so that now I am a 4 day week and could leave my job if i wanted to for a minimum wage minimum responsibiltiy job and still do the things I want to do. This option actually keeps me at my current role knowing the dangling carrot cannot be usesd against me.
lrdisco said:
In my honest opinion you need a certain amount of money to be happy but after that it really doesn’t get much better/happier.
I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
9k net. Mortgage would be sub 2k if taken in the last decade. Hardly that horrible, even 5x the joint salary having borrowed 750k or so for a low 1% would be circa 2.5k a month - £6.5k remaining - it’s a far far better situation to have one person lose their job at that level than a lower level, you could still live on 1500 quid a month (2.5k +500 bills) if you really needed to. The essentials in life cost the person on 80k just the same as the person on 18 don’t forget..!I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
lrdisco said:
In my honest opinion you need a certain amount of money to be happy but after that it really doesn’t get much better/happier.
I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
I’ve been overly conservative over my lifetime. It makes me sleep better but I’d say it’s made me asset poor when contrasted with people who have used borrowed money to make far greater gains than I ever have. I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
Shnozz said:
lrdisco said:
In my honest opinion you need a certain amount of money to be happy but after that it really doesn’t get much better/happier.
I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
I’ve been overly conservative over my lifetime. It makes me sleep better but I’d say it’s made me asset poor when contrasted with people who have used borrowed money to make far greater gains than I ever have. I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
Worth it in the end, although I had a fair few sleepless nights along the way.
Norton850 said:
I am not rich at all but i have no debt anymore and the financial pressures i used to have are all gone.
Decent salary means i don't worry about what i spend and i could retire now in my early 50s but as i built my business from nothing i still enjoy it.
I am far happier than i have ever been...
So if Jeff Bezos rocked up and said i like what this business is doing and dropped a £50,000,000 cheque in your lap you would say no?Decent salary means i don't worry about what i spend and i could retire now in my early 50s but as i built my business from nothing i still enjoy it.
I am far happier than i have ever been...
AC43 said:
NMNeil said:
DanL said:
NMNeil said:
AC43 said:
From the Rich b
ds Frenzy in Bike magazine in the 80's;
"Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you a better class of misery".
Close to what my gran used to say.ds Frenzy in Bike magazine in the 80's; "Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you a better class of misery".
"Money can't buy you happiness, but at least you can be f
king miserable in comfort" 
I'll hold a seance and ask her
Shnozz said:
What I find interesting is that some of the most content and happy people have often been living in poorer nations with low living standards but usually a sunny and warm environment.
'Happiness' doesn't correlate nessessarly to 'progress' or 'ambition'.Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory means actually pretty much everyone in the UK have what they 'need' to survive and be happy.
However if you took away deadlines how many projects will get finished, take away exams and how many kids would learn more things, take away trophies/league tables and how many footballers would bother training?
It's a really interesting topic, we are all taught to focuse on 'GDP' but the reality is GDP is a actually a totally worthless measure of anything that relates to 'happiness'.
https://hbr.org/2019/10/gdp-is-not-a-measure-of-hu...
We are all on this planet for a short period, my concept of happiness is trying to achieve what I didn't think was possible, and once I achieve it move onto the next bit. This does mean am always 'stressed' at work, juggling multiple deadlines, and judge my self for 'failures' harsher than anyone else, but it makes me feel 'happy'.
What the media tires to sell as 'happiness' I personally cannot stand, we spend 1 week all inclusive in a Caribbean 5 star resort a few years ago, by breakfast of day 3 I had my work laptop out whilst sitting on the beach wishing I was somewhere the glare of the sun didn't make it so hard to read the screen.....Reduced productivity, getting fat from eattinf too much, too hot to exercise, getting sun burn etc and having to pay £££££ for the experience!!!!??? Never again
.Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 18th May 07:01
lrdisco said:
I just can not get my head around having a £500k mortgage and relying on 2 x £80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
Surely if you are in that situation and want more 'slack' the aim should be to get your income to 2x£100k+?Where’s the slack in the system?
What's the point of life if you are just 'content' with the status quo? I guess that is OPs point?? Is it about money or is it about what you 'value' in life?
AC43 said:
Shnozz said:
lrdisco said:
In my honest opinion you need a certain amount of money to be happy but after that it really doesn’t get much better/happier.
I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a 500k mortgage and relying on 2 x 80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
I’ve gone up and down over the years but honestly I think for me only having lower outgoings is more important.
I just can not get my head around having a 500k mortgage and relying on 2 x 80k incoming every single month.
Where’s the slack in the system?
I’ve been overly conservative over my lifetime. It makes me sleep better but I’d say it’s made me asset poor when contrasted with people who have used borrowed money to make far greater gains than I ever have.
I went for broke about 15 years ago - I leveraged my mortgage to the hilt and bought/developed/sold three times. It got pretty hairy at times and I'm glad to be on the other side now.
Worth it in the end, although I had a fair few sleepless nights along the way.
Hey ho. Never been one for being lucky with financial decisions. Invested a load in the stock market last year only to see that 30% down at present following events in Ukraine. Just have to accept I wasn't meant to be wealthy!
I’m unsure whether money buys happiness per se but it does allow you to do things that may bring happiness bearing in mind what does happiness actually mean / each person being different.
I’ve not had money in the past ( I’m old enough to remember 15% mortgage rates and being 1 month away from a major issue with no savings at all ) and thanks to a long career and recently retired “ early “ now do and know which I prefer.
Having money to do things without having to cut back on essentials ( paying for a decorator or getting things repaired aren’t necessarily big ticket items )in itself bring a certain quantum of happiness.
Being able to pay for 2 of my childrens recent medical needs don’t bring happiness but it does take away stress.
I’ve not had money in the past ( I’m old enough to remember 15% mortgage rates and being 1 month away from a major issue with no savings at all ) and thanks to a long career and recently retired “ early “ now do and know which I prefer.
Having money to do things without having to cut back on essentials ( paying for a decorator or getting things repaired aren’t necessarily big ticket items )in itself bring a certain quantum of happiness.
Being able to pay for 2 of my childrens recent medical needs don’t bring happiness but it does take away stress.
Mr Whippy said:
I don’t get how some people justify all the stuff they buy.
In most cases you could spend half as much, get something almost as good, and over 10 years probably save enough to pay off your mortgage early.
Some people are just fully signed up materialism addicts.
I am sure some are. Paying off your mortgage isn't incompatible with buying stuff. I wish I hadn't paid off my mortgage early as I could have bought much nicer stuff had I kept the leverage to invest more in property, counter intuitive as it may sound.In most cases you could spend half as much, get something almost as good, and over 10 years probably save enough to pay off your mortgage early.
Some people are just fully signed up materialism addicts.
My view is that excess frugality can make people as miserable and bitter as excessive profligacy. You can sense that on a daily basis on PH.
It is about balance.
nickfrog said:
I am sure some are. Paying off your mortgage isn't incompatible with buying stuff. I wish I hadn't paid off my mortgage early as I could have bought much nicer stuff had I kept the leverage to invest more in property, counter intuitive as it may sound.
My view is that excess frugality can make people as miserable and bitter as excessive profligacy. You can sense that on a daily basis on PH.
It is about balance.
I agree completely. I guess that the extremes are those with the strongest views and therefore shout the loudest, at either end of the spectrum.My view is that excess frugality can make people as miserable and bitter as excessive profligacy. You can sense that on a daily basis on PH.
It is about balance.
nickfrog said:
It is about balance.
It is indeed. Although I am very much of the opinion that experiences are more important that possessions. A 10 year old car does 95% of what a new car will do, and for most people a 4 bed house will do what a 6 bed house will do, but you can't explain the experience of diving in some of the world's best dive sites, flying a plane, skiing down that black run or seeing the pyramids. These moments are what make life special, not buying a new TV or designer clothing.
Condi said:
It is indeed.
Although I am very much of the opinion that experiences are more important that possessions. A 10 year old car does 95% of what a new car will do, and for most people a 4 bed house will do what a 6 bed house will do, but you can't explain the experience of diving in some of the world's best dive sites, flying a plane, skiing down that black run or seeing the pyramids. These moments are what make life special, not buying a new TV or designer clothing.
Very true although I have also found that experiences can be intrinsically linked to possessions. Although I am very much of the opinion that experiences are more important that possessions. A 10 year old car does 95% of what a new car will do, and for most people a 4 bed house will do what a 6 bed house will do, but you can't explain the experience of diving in some of the world's best dive sites, flying a plane, skiing down that black run or seeing the pyramids. These moments are what make life special, not buying a new TV or designer clothing.
And that is particularly true when it comes to driving.
My most brilliant driving experiences / memories were down to the place and the car in equal measures. Particularly at the Ring.
Same for my cycling, a brilliant day at a Bike Park has always required the right bike for me, which is rarely the cheapest.
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