Does happiness have a price? For a majority of Americans, the answer is yes — but it doesn’t come cheap.
About 6 in 10 of Americans believe money can buy happiness, according to a new poll from financial services firm Empower. Yet to achieve happiness through financial means, most people say they’d need a significant raise, as well as a big chunk of money in the bank.
Median household income in the U.S. stands at about $74,000 annually, but respondents told Empower that they’d need to earn roughly $284,000 each year to achieve happiness.
And as for wealth, Americans said they’d need even more in the bank to feel content: $1.2 million, to be exact, the poll found. Many people are wealthier than they were a few years ago, thanks to the rise in real estate and stock market values, yet the median net worth of U.S. households stood at $192,900 in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve.
Money doesn’t buy happiness. However, it can often buy time or a reduction in stress, which can help one find happiness.
I make a good salary and one of the things that buys my family is the ability to just do what we want to do, within reason. While we still watch our grocery bill (and goddam inflation in food prices sucks), we don’t actually stress over it. We buy a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and splurge on some name brands here and there (Kerry Gold butter is awesome). This means that we don’t stress over “what’s for dinner”, other than planing out meals for the week. Because, that’s smart and leads to less waste and better eating. We can also say, “fuck it, we’re ordering out” and dropping $50-$100 for the family to eat isn’t going to cause money issues. When we get to the “end of a paycheck” our main stress comes from only putting a few hundred in savings. And we actually have savings. So, I am not worried that the car is going to crap out and we’re suddenly taking on tons of debt at usurious interest rates.
Has money “bought” us happiness? No, but life is a hell of a lot better now than it was when we were raiding the change jar to buy something to eat for dinner. Being poor brings a lot of stress with it, and that can make you unhappy.
Money is simply one of many ingredients needed to be happy. What I would say I need to be “happy” is:
Is that too much to ask for?