Money and Happiness
Money and Happiness
Article from Journal of Consumer Psychology: "If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right."
http://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/files/2011/04/ ... hology.pdf
http://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/files/2011/04/ ... hology.pdf
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Johnathan Clement once wrote in one of his books that folks should spend money on memories and NOT material objects. That makes sense as the enjoyment of buying a new toy lasts for only a few weeks. Spending money on a vacation with the family to have memories that will last a lifetime is likely to produce more happiness.
Make sense to me.
Good luck.
Make sense to me.
Good luck.
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The authors go beyond that. From the abstract:staythecourse wrote:Johnathan Clement once wrote in one of his books that folks should spend money on memories and NOT material objects. That makes sense as the enjoyment of buying a new toy lasts for only a few weeks. Spending money on a vacation with the family to have memories that will last a lifetime is likely to produce more happiness.
Make sense to me.
Good luck.
... we propose eight principles designed to help consumers get more happiness for their money. Specifically, we suggest that
consumers should (1) buy more experiences and fewer material goods; (2) use their money to benefit others rather than themselves; (3) buy many small pleasures rather than fewer large ones; (4) eschew extended warranties and other forms of overpriced insurance; (5) delay consumption; (6) consider how peripheral features of their purchases may affect their day-to-day lives; (7) beware of comparison shopping; and (8) pay close attention to the happiness of others.
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Re: Money and Happiness
H&B usually do the trick.gatorking wrote:"If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right."
Clements elaborated on happiness quite a bit in his book, "The Little Book of Main Street Money," including "Buy experiences, rather than things," "Count Your Blessings," "Find a purpose," etc. I think previous threads here have also talked about studies showing we should strive for things that can bring "sustainable happiness." All of these writings, including the one posted here today, seem to be getting back at the same things, which are achievable in the same or similar ways. I'm in agreement with just about all of them.staythecourse wrote:Johnathan Clement once wrote in one of his books that folks should spend money on memories and NOT material objects. That makes sense as the enjoyment of buying a new toy lasts for only a few weeks. Spending money on a vacation with the family to have memories that will last a lifetime is likely to produce more happiness.
Make sense to me.
Good luck.
Then, too, there's that genetic happiness often described as a "general feeling of well-being or contentment" that some lucky people seem to have been born with, while others apparently can also achieve it but have to work a little harder at getting it.
Whatever, I enjoyed reading the report posted here and was happy to see the link.
Very nice article. I didn't know that a businessman named Frank McNamara in 1949 started up the whole "consume now and pay later" credit card industry after finding himself without any cash after a diner with his wife.
The authors pointed out that the “consume now and pay later” leads people to engage in shortsighted behavior and end up less well off—to rack up debts, to save little for retirement. Also, “consume now, pay later” is a bad idea because anticipation is a source of “free” happiness.
Conclusion: People who devote time to anticipating enjoyable experiences report being happier in general.
The authors pointed out that the “consume now and pay later” leads people to engage in shortsighted behavior and end up less well off—to rack up debts, to save little for retirement. Also, “consume now, pay later” is a bad idea because anticipation is a source of “free” happiness.
Conclusion: People who devote time to anticipating enjoyable experiences report being happier in general.
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I think the fact that so many people choose to remain poor suggests that money is at best an accessory to happiness. many who specifically seek things like enlightenment and contentment will even take vows of poverty to get there faster with fewer distractions.
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This reminded me of something that Jonathan Clements (former Wall Street Journal columnist) said in his last book: "As people are lifted out of poverty and brought up to a fairly basic standard of living, their happiness can vastly increase. But after that, a lot of extra dollars don't necessarily buy a lot of extra happiness."mlebuf wrote:Money may not have a lot to do with happiness, but poverty has one hell of a lot to do with unhappiness. It's not what money does for you, it's what it delivers you from.
Yes and than after that comes extra stress .... what to do with all this money, bogleheads?Fallible wrote:
"As people are lifted out of poverty and brought up to a fairly basic standard of living, their happiness can vastly increase. But after that, a lot of extra dollars don't necessarily buy a lot of extra happiness."
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Right. It's all about the Maslow hierarchy of needs. The article is all about what you do when you're up there at the top of the pyramid in the "self-actualization" zone.mlebuf wrote:Money may not have a lot to do with happiness, but poverty has one hell of a lot to do with unhappiness. It's not what money does for you, it's what it delivers you from.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
It has to do with the the diminishing marginal utility of money. If you're interested, you can read up on utility functions. Here is a very short wikipedia excerpt on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility#Money
This reminds me of the article stating that after $75k, things don't get much better: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/09/07/ ... 00-a-year/
Our ultimate goal in life is to be happy. People all-too-often lose sight of this.
This reminds me of the article stating that after $75k, things don't get much better: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/09/07/ ... 00-a-year/
Our ultimate goal in life is to be happy. People all-too-often lose sight of this.
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Happiness is all about expectations.
If you expect too much out of something, then you are likely to be disappointed and unhappy if you don't achieve it.
But if you have lower expectations and achieve it, there are more chances that you will achieve it and be happy.
If you expect too much out of something, then you are likely to be disappointed and unhappy if you don't achieve it.
But if you have lower expectations and achieve it, there are more chances that you will achieve it and be happy.
The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must -Thucydides
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Or, as Aristotle put it: “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”nukephd wrote:It has to do with the the diminishing marginal utility of money. If you're interested, you can read up on utility functions. Here is a very short wikipedia excerpt on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility#Money
This reminds me of the article stating that after $75k, things don't get much better: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/09/07/ ... 00-a-year/
Our ultimate goal in life is to be happy. People all-too-often lose sight of this.
reminds me of a recent NPR Planet Money podcast on Happiness:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/ ... -happiness
FWIW, I'm not of the camp that says vacations and the memories they give are worth more than stuff. I enjoy vacations (I'm on my third one this year) but I've had occasions to be very sick on vacation (Paris with broncisis, Barcelona with food poisoning) to know that you can end up wasting money on vacations that you're not well enough to enjoy due to bad luck.
However, whenever I buy some "thing" that I really want, I get lots of value from it, especially if its original art that I can look at every day etc. I also would rather spend money to learn a new skill in a workshop or class than go on vacation. So I think you have to know yourself. Some people enjoy stuff.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/ ... -happiness
FWIW, I'm not of the camp that says vacations and the memories they give are worth more than stuff. I enjoy vacations (I'm on my third one this year) but I've had occasions to be very sick on vacation (Paris with broncisis, Barcelona with food poisoning) to know that you can end up wasting money on vacations that you're not well enough to enjoy due to bad luck.
However, whenever I buy some "thing" that I really want, I get lots of value from it, especially if its original art that I can look at every day etc. I also would rather spend money to learn a new skill in a workshop or class than go on vacation. So I think you have to know yourself. Some people enjoy stuff.
When my boys were ages 5 and 3 I started them on weekly allowances of 75 and 50 cents, then regularly brought them to the dollar store to spend it. At this age the dollar store is a mindboggling treasure trove of consumer choice with just about everything a preschool heart can desire - dart guns, mini flashlights, army tanks, giant bags of chips, foam swords, etc - and every bit of this vast wealth is within the reach of the preschooler who is able to save for two long, long weeks.Curlyq wrote:In my teens, when I wanted something frivilous, my dad would say, "Where's your money?", and I would have to work and save for whatever I wanted and many times, never bought the item as the novelty of it wore off before I had enough money to buy it. Did I inherit this trait or was I taught this trait?
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That is a classic experiment. Here's a video of some of the children in the experiment. Their expressions, while trying to resist the marshmallow, make me laugh every time:Curlyq wrote:This article reminds me of the somewhat famous "marshmallow" experiments with children that showed that those who could delay gratification and receive two marshmallows rather than eating one marshmallow right away, were also much better off financially when they reached their 30s. Those children who could not wait 15 minutes to get two marshmallows were in financial distress by the time they reached their 30s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjJsPylEOY
More generally, "The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt does a nice job of summarizing the psychological research on happiness. Despite the kind of new-agey title, it's a very interesting read and corroborates many of the things people have already noted in this thread.
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[quote="mlebuf"]Money may not have a lot to do with happiness, but poverty has one hell of a lot to do with unhappiness. It's not what money does for you, it's what it delivers you from.[/quote
Exactlly..
Exactlly..
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This video great - I can't stop laughing. Thanks for post it.jodydavis wrote:That is a classic experiment. Here's a video of some of the children in the experiment. Their expressions, while trying to resist the marshmallow, make me laugh every time:Curlyq wrote:This article reminds me of the somewhat famous "marshmallow" experiments with children that showed that those who could delay gratification and receive two marshmallows rather than eating one marshmallow right away, were also much better off financially when they reached their 30s. Those children who could not wait 15 minutes to get two marshmallows were in financial distress by the time they reached their 30s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjJsPylEOY
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Re: Money and Happiness
Every so often someone posts here a truly useful link.gatorking wrote:Article from Journal of Consumer Psychology: "If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right."
http://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/files/2011/04/ ... hology.pdf
Thank you.