Does money buy happiness?

 

Does money buy happiness?

Many people take the stance that money can’t buy happiness. And they’re not wrong, because we’ve all been exposed to people who are rich and miserable. This is especially common in movies or fiction writing- the rich individual who sits alone in their fancy home that yearns for some sort of happiness. And of course, rich people also have problems. Their problems might be different and might be what is known as “nice life problems”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying that rich people do not have “real life problems”. While money might separate us materially, it does not unevenly distribute trauma or emotional pain. A rich mother losing a child will experience the same pain that a poor mother would experience. Having money could however make the process of losing a loved one easier, in the sense that it enables the family to afford the necessary resources to deal with the death for example.  

I believe that a lack of money creates misery. Perhaps even a worse kind of misery. Imagine not being able to satisfy your basic needs and having to depend on people to help you get through the day.

The reality is that we all need and spend money, but for most of us it is a limited resource. Constantly having to think twice before spending any money can become exhausting and even depressing. Think of walking into a shop, and you see a really nice item of clothing that you’ve been eyeing for some time, but you can’t take it because you have to buy something to eat instead. Although, in this scenario the item of clothing might be seen as a want more than a need, both items are basic necessities. Now constantly having to choose which need to satisfy first can take a toll on any person. Because why can’t I have the best of both worlds? I once saw a video and the message that stood out for me was that “being poor is compounded by not being able to afford basic necessities”.

Having said that, money surely makes life easier. Having a higher income grants access to safer and nicer homes, better nutrition and more leisure time to say the least, and these are just some factors that are considered to be psychologically beneficial for any individual.

Now think of the phrase “you need money in order to make money”. Whether you want to start a business, or you need to move to a new city for an amazing job opportunity, chances are you need money for both. If you don’t have the money, you are likely to stay in the same place in terms of progress, and that might cause you to become stagnant which could lead to internal struggles.

Diminishing marginal utility is an economic term that states that the more we have of something, the more the value diminishes over time. For example, the first slice of cake is good, the second slice won’t be as good, and the third slice will be even less good. Now you might think, the more money I have, the more I will become used to it, so it won’t affect me as much. And while that may be true, I still personally believe that having money makes life easier, and being able to “buy” goods, experiences and opportunities is what CAN be defined as happiness.

To answer the question of “Does money buy happiness?”, I think we need start with how we define and measure happiness. To some, happiness might be living comfortably (alone) in a mansion, while others may define happiness as living with a family of six in a 2-room house. What I might consider as happiness, might not be what happiness looks like to the next person.