Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Price of Happiness

Since each day that passes I get closer and closer to entering the real world—8 months away!—I find myself thinking more and more about….money. How am I going to sustain the life that my parents have generously created for me? Why are there so many different types of insurance I have to suddenly start worrying about paying for? Although some optimists claim that money can’t buy satisfaction, I’m beginning to think money is the ONLY thing that keeps people satisfied.

I’ve never dreamed about being a billionaire,but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to not have to stress over money. I mentioned in a previous post that I am a huge fan of the Wall Street Journal, and today I came across a blog post from The Wealth Report titled The Perfect Salary for Happiness: $75,000.  This sparked two thoughts in my mind; 1-How is any survey able to come up with a tangible salary number for happiness? and 2-I NEED TO READ THIS.

The author of the post referred to a Gallup survey administered in 2008 and 2009 that split happiness into two categories: day-to-day contentment and overall life assessment. According to the results, higher income always leads to an increase in life assessment, but day-to-day contentment plateaus at the magical number…$75,000. Angus Deaton, a Princeton economist who conducted the survey, states, Giving people more income beyond 75K is not going to do much for their daily mood … but it is going to make them feel they have a better life.

I’m thankful I found this post because it put things in perspective for me. While a high salary makes individuals feel more accomplished in terms of success, it does not mean that you will enjoy life as much as any other person.

New life goal: Aim for $75,000.

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