Can money really buy happiness?

[#hamler]

You hear all the time it can't, but why can't it?

Money can certainly cause huge stress and problems on the modern family. Especially with today's economic down fall it seems that if you give a stuggling family a thousand bucks, they'll seem happy. But can they really be happy without each other? If you were the richest person in the world with out a sole to say they love you, can you say you're happy?

In my opinion, yes, to a certain extent. If your in love, and you have money, I'm sure it can bring you happiness. But in my honest opinion, love can buy happiness more then money can buy happiness..

I know if I was making 250,000+ plus I would be extremely happy. But I also know that if I was living on the street with my girlfriend, i'd be perfectly happy as well. That's not a joke I'm being serious. So what it really comes down to is:

Can money buy happiness?

Can love buy more happiness then money can?

Here's a pic for the troubles.

Spoiler

Discuss this shit.

 

[Loveless]

I'm very close to saying yes and I might explain why later in this post because I think happiness is a personal experience that changes from person to person.

OK, personally for me, no money can't buy happiness. It can buy you the freedom to persue happiness, it can protect you in keeping so much bad stuff out and it can provide you with things to keep you busy but to me, that's contentment and it's fleeting. I think happiness is a deeper satisfaction, a feeling that if you died right now and nothing you ever did mattered, you'd still be glad to have experienced it and have no regrets. I think I'm basically taking the same line as Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, which says that life can only be judged when you've seen the whole picture you've painted. Everything up to that point is just progress to an end and happiness is the end goal. Money can't buy you happiness, it can simply move you along the path to it.

Usefully, that book also says what I said at the start, that happiness is a personal experience and someone who defined happiness differently to what I have, might have an entirely different viewpoint. Maybe what you feel when you unwrap your beautiful new HD TV is happiness, if you're living in a moment of pleasure, why judge happiness over the course of your entire life? Ignorance is bliss and if you don't have Aristotles depth of awareness, why would you want it? Happiness doesn't have to be deep. It really just depends on your definition.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

Can money buy happiness?

Eh, I will have to go with no, money cannot buy happiness. The simple reason is because money has always been viewed as a type of false happiness that only fills the spoiled part of your life. Think about it. When you have money, you feel like you can get anything in the world, no questions asked. Thus, feeds much of your ego and fills your mind with emotions such as cockyness, arrogantness, thickheadedness---Basically, you become a greedy bastard.

Money becomes your whole world. You live for it; you crave for it; and chances are, you will do anything to get it. However, when you have all this money, allegedly you become happy. But is this really the case? Say you go out and buy everything it is you need, but then what? What happens when you have everything you originally wanted? Are you happy now? Of course not. You want more. You want more than what you originally wanted and ultimately end up unhappy and angry because you don't get what you want.

Money makes you a greedy dumb-ass. The more you have it, the more greedy you will become; the less you have it, the more angry you will become. Do you see the trend here? Generally speaking, money only leads to false happiness that ends up turning into frustration or misery. And it's safe to say no one likes greedy dumb-asses. So no, money cannot buy happiness.

Can love buy more happiness then money can?

Love? You mean as in boyfriend and girlfriend/husband and wife love, right?

Well, I would have to say to some extent. For example, when you fall in love with a girl, it is like a feeling like no other. You feel as if you are on top of the world and nothing can take you down. However, love will also make you do just about anything for the said girl (or guy) you are in love with. So much so that it makes you do even the stupidest of things just to attract the chick's attention. Ultimately, making yourself look like a jack-ass or a dumb-ass.

Now, I don't really see the fun in this. I have always been more of a person that thinks situations rationally and logically. Sure I have been in love before, and yes I have been in relationships where I was in love---so yea, I was happy. However, my happiness would often lead to a fair share of idiocracy going on as well. I said I think things rationally, but when you are in love, it's hard to abide by that motto. It's as the old saying goes: Love [truly does] conquer all.

But overall, I would say that love attains much more love than happyness does. However, it does have its flaws as well. Then again, everything in the world has flaws.
___________________

I would say to be trully happy, one must be at peace with themselves. Meaning, you have to be void of desires, you have just about everything you need [to live life], you have family and friends who care about you, and you feel as if everything in your life is perfect the way it is---when you have all of this, you are trully happy. Money can't buy happiness; and love can only get you it to some extent. But when you are free of desires and are satisfied with the life you are living---that's when you're trully happy.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Money can never buy unconditional or true love, but it sure as hell can buy you happiness if you have other goals besides intimately sharing your life with someone else.

I can't even begin to imagine the kind of life I'd be able to have if I was extremely wealthy. I'd be able to travel the world and buy my way into any graduate or professional school that I pleased (not that the one I'm currently at is bad, but I'd love to be able to study economics at some place like MIT or Stanford). Furthermore, I'd be able to dedicate my life to opening all different kinds of small businesses and reading and studying philosophy, economics, and political science, the three academic subjects I love the most.

I'm married now and I don't think I'd be able to give up my wife for anything. However, being able to live the life that I wanted and being given the opportunity to contribute to the world in the way that I wanted would be pretty damn tempting, especially given that all it would take is money.

 

[LigerBomb]

Of course it can (and routinely does).

Money affords opportunity, security and potentially removes life's despairs. The more choice you have the more you can be, and do, whatever you want. Being true to yourself, and having the luxury of not worrying about how you'll support yourself—and those you love—will indeed allow for a better chance at happiness and self-satisfaction.

In fact, if you'll allow me to paraphrase a bit of research, according to a recent study from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, the magic number here in the States appears to be an income of about $75K a year. The lower a person's annual income falls below that benchmark, the unhappier he or she feels; Or so the study claims, however no matter how much more than $75,000 people make, they don't report any greater degree of happiness. Though I suspect millionaires are a pretty happy bunch too.

The study points out that there are actually two distinct types of happiness. First, is your changeable, day-to-day mood. Second, the deeper satisfaction you feel about just how well your life is going. While having an income above the magic $75,000 cutoff doesn't seem to have an impact on the former, it definitely seems to improve people's life satisfaction. That is to say, the more people make above $75,000, the more they feel their life is on the right track –but it doesn't make them any more pleasant to be around when it's just "one of those days".

The study's authors, Deaton and Kahneman et. al, found that a whopping 85% of Americans, regardless of their annual income, felt happy each day. Almost 40% of participants also reported feeling stressed (which is not mutually exclusive with happiness) and a quarter of all people polled had feelings of sadness.


Researchers found that lower income did not cause sadness in and of itself but made people feel more kept down by the problems they already had. For example, among divorced people, about 51% who made less than $1K a month reported feeling sad or stressed the previous day, while only 24% of those earning more than three times as much a month reported similar feelings. Among people with chronic diseases such as asthma, 41% of low earners reported feeling unhappy, compared with about 22% of the wealthier group. Having money clearly takes the bite out of life's adversities, big and small, and allows people to sleep a bit easier.


Again however, after $75,000, the effects seem to disappear. For people who earn that much or more, individual temperament, personality, and life circumstances have much more sway over their potential happiness than cold hard cash. That said, in the grand scheme of people's lives, their evaluations were much more tied to their income. The more they made, the more they felt their life was going well.


Interestingly enough, the researchers conclude that hhigher incomes don't bring you happiness per se, but rather they bring you a life you perceive to be better. Clearly if you work like a dog—finding yourself constantly stressed out, always trying to bring home that $75K worth of bacon—in the end, you may not necessarily feel all that swell after all.


So as you can see money can indeed buy happiness –albeit a certain specific kind.


As for the bit about love buying happiness: Love is a wonderful (chemically induced) feeling, but money will allow you to protect and lavish comfort on top of that love. Being helpless in your ability to help and protect those you love due to a lack of funds can certainly be assuaged by a higher income. So why not just aspire to have both Love and Money?

​

 

[Goliath Uterus]

For sure it can, I honestly can't think of any situation that (earning lots of) money would cause unhappiness or stress. If I was wealthy, I would be 3x happier than I am now, that's for damn sure. Money can buy all the entertainment and luxuries in the world, and never fails to attract women. And like tdigs said, with enough money you can go to any college you want, earn a degree at a prestigous college, and then make even more money when you graduate.

And coming from someone who was broke for a while, and still had a great family, there were definitely times when I was unhappy cause of the finnancial situation. I honestly doubt you would be happy if you lived in the street Hamler, no matter who you were with.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Can money buy happiness?

It depends on what the individual's idea of happiness is. Some guys are pretty simple minded. Give them their favorite video game and they'll be happy. If they have a great meal at a restaurant they are happy. So yeah money can get you all the luxuries that you might demand but that is not everybody's idea of happiness.

Some guys want to make a mark in life. They want to do something that will ensure that they are remembered even after their death. Different people have different ambitions and not all of them centre around money. To such people money is important but not the epicentre of their lives.

Can love buy more happiness then money can?

Love is just one of the emotions that I talked about in my econd paragraph. It all depends on what makes your life go round. It could be love, it could be achieving that one thing that you always wanted to achieve. It could be fame and recognition. It could be a variety of things. It depends on person to person.

There are plenty of people who are in love but dissatisfied because they want money and vice versa as well.

Also to some posters who said that money attracts women. Yes it does but so does a lot of other thing like a great sense of humor, for example. Generally it is better to avoid girls who are attracted to you because of your money. There is a good chance they may be attracted only to your money. You might have the money now but god forbid one day you might not have it. Then these type of girls will run away from you faster than Usain Bolt.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The above posts seem to be pointing in the same direction: Money by itself doesn't buy happiness.....it buys security, which is one of the factors that brings happiness.

Yes, for some folks, money can be a goal in itself and if they're able to accumulate great amounts of it, that alone will make them happy. For most of us, though, living in a difficult economy and struggling to make a living certainly does a lot to promote insecurity and often results in unhappiness.

To put it another way: I'll tell you how much money I'd like to have......I'd like to have enough money so I don't have to worry about how much money I have.

That's not a riddle. Think about it.

 

[Arkham Noir]

I think money is part of the equation for happiness, but is by no means capable of doing it on its own. You can buy all the shit you want, but if your missing something in your life, it most likely doesn't have a price tag on it.

Than again, some people are happy with material posessions and in their case, money can buy happiness. It depends on what makes you happy I guess.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I dont think it can. However, I think having money enables you live a more comfortable, pleasurable lifestyle which can increase your happiness. Being well off and being able to afford everything you have ever dreamed about is bound to make you happy, and means you can enjoy life more than if you were struggling to make ends meet.

Money will allow you to experience things, travel to places and meet people that you otherwise would not have been able to do. You can live the life of luxury and be happy and relaxed in the knowledge that money is no object and anything you want, you can have.

However, there is no point having money without anyone to enjoy it with, and to share your life. It is well known that some women, often realllllly good looking women, are attracted to wealthy men. And yes, while they may love them for who they are not their wallet size, there are many who will simply stay with a person due to them being rich. This means that your wife does not really love you, and I think if I ever became a millionairre, I think this is something that would worry me.

So, yes I would love to be absolutely wadded, with the fleet of expensive cars, massive house and luxurious lifestyle. BUT, I think I would prefer the smaller house, and a regular car, and live with a loving family rather than the big empty house and gold digging women

 

[Ferbian]

I'd say it's actually an odd question. I know I'm gonna come out incredibly weird for saying this, but in a way money can buy happiness yes, even love. However it would most likely be illusionary all of it.

The happiness would be fake because who in the world is ever gonna be happy owning everything, and getting everything they ever wanted. the love would be fake as well because she's most likely just a gold digger.

Love and happiness can be achieved through money, there's absolutely no doubt in that. However, true happiness and true love is something I would say is redefined through other attributes than money. A girl / guy there will be there no matter what because of love, and not because of the money. And some of the many joys in life that doesn't need money - Children, pets (If you're that type of guy) etc. All of these things are not due to money (Pets might be, but you know what I mean) they're due to something else than money, which is why I'd like to believe it is the true sort of happiness.

So yes, money can really buy happiness and love. But it will still be illusionary.

 

[Captain Jive]

I say yes. It may not gaurantee love, but you will be happy. Am I the only one thats ever been happy without being in love? I'm married now, so I definitely would choose her and the kids over a big pile of cash, but that doesnt mean that before I met her payday didnt put a smile on my face. When I used to go snowboarding, I didn't know her, but I still had a blast. When I would buy a new guitar, I was happy as hell. Did I want someone to share it with? Absolutely, but I was still happy.

As far as can money buy you more happiness than love, I say no. Money is great, but nothing compares to love. I mean real love, not the "we're still together because we just havent gotten around to breaking up" kind of love. No feeling is better than that.

So basically, money CAN buy happiness, just not as much as love.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies.

- Gene Hill


I guess it depends on what kind of person you are. If you are a dog person like me, you have no problem sending more money than you should on your dog regardless of what other people think. That includes the dog itself, dog toys, expensive dog food if you want the healthy stuff, etc etc etc And in return, you dog will love you no matter what. I know too many people who are happy to have several dogs and no kids. Same people would give up just about anything to bring their dog back from the dead.


If you never had a dog or hate dogs, you prolly wouldn't understand.

 

[lenguy]

Define Happiness. It all comes down to ones perspective on what makes them happy. To a child money can buy happiness if your looking to buy that new toy or video game. To teens it could get you that new car you've been saving up for. To adults you might want that dream home you've always pondered about. That could all tie into money buying happiness. Hell, your goal in life could be to be Rich someday and you could buy that lotto ticket and for the luck of the draw you happen to win millions, wouldn't you be happy? I'm sure as hell not gonna complain...Aw hell I just won 5 million dollars...I just wanted 20 bucks!

But if your the person that longs for things that you can't put a price on like love and moralistic well being and all those spiritual things, then no. People shouldn't look to money to comfort them. To quote the simpsons lol. In a confrontation between burns and homer."Does your money ever tell you it loves you? does it ever tell you it misses you?" something along the lines of that. Money gives people false security. At the end of the day its just paper and nothing more.

It really comes down to how you view happiness and what you want out of your life. Could be money,yes. But then a lot of people are above money. So it varies from person to person.

 

[ABMorales787]

Not really. You could be making 250,000+ a month. It can guarantee you won't go broke, but it won't guarantee you'll go happy. Love that is bought isn't real. Meaning it won't last. Maybe you can gain temporary happiness, but once it ends, it hurts more than it made you happy. There's a reason why drug dealers either end up in jail, die or reform. All the money and underground grandeur doesn't make them happy in the long run. Same with celebrities. All the money in the world can't keep most of them from getting in trouble.

Love can buy happiness. It gives you purpose in life. You have something to live for in good times and bad no matter what.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Well sure it can, depending upon what your own personal view of happiness is. If you're someone that's into material things and all the various perks that come with them in society, then I suppose money really can buy you happiness.

Let's say for the sake of argument that you're a 21 year old guy that's just inherited a $20 million dollar trust fund your great grandfather started with a few thousand dollars back after WWII or something. Now, you're someone that's always wanted the "finer things" in life and financial security has long been something that society looks at as providing those "finer things". Maybe you like eating in the most expensive resteraunts, wearing designer clothes, jewelry, flashy cars and girls with big breasts, tight asses, short attention spans and loose morals. If all that stuff makes you happen, then that's all stuff that money can provide. Is it something of a shallow existence? In my opinion, I'd say absolutely.

Of course, it's always possible that someone could grow dissatisfied with that sort of lifestyle just as people become dissatisfied with more conventional lifestyles. It happens all the time. Happiness doesn't necessarily last forever unless changes are sometimes made.