$75000 Make You Happy. Anything beyond that doesn't make you any happier

[jeffrey]

The researchers discovered money is indeed a major factor in day-to-day happiness. No surprise there. You need to make a certain amount, on average, to be able to afford food, shelter, clothing, entertainment and the occasional Apple product, but what spun top hats around the country was their finding that beyond a certain point your happiness levels off. The happiness money offers doesn’t keep getting more and more potent – it plateaus. The research showed that a lack of money brings unhappiness, but an overabundance does not have the opposite effect.

According to the research, in modern America the average income required to be happy day-to-day, to experience “emotional well being” is about $75,000 a year. According to the researchers, past that point adding more to your income “does nothing for happiness, enjoyment, sadness, or stress.” A person who makes, on average, $250,000 a year has no greater emotional well-being, no extra day-to-day happiness, than a person making $75,000 a year. In Mississippi it is a bit less, in Chicago a bit more, but the point is there is evidence for the existence of a financiohappiness ceiling. The super-wealthy may believe they are happier, and you may agree, but you both share a delusion...

The Overjustification Effect « You Are Not So Smart

[NetSkyBlue]

Excellent article, thank you!

This part made me realize why I enjoy my part-time waitress job more than my day job, even though the hours are late, the physical amount of work is harder, and the income isn't stable:

The results of the study suggested when you get rewarded based on how well you perform a task, as long as those reasons are made perfectly clear, rewards will generate that electric exuberance of intrinsic validation, and the higher the reward, the better the feeling and the more likely you will try harder in the future. On the other hand, if you are getting rewarded just for being a warm body, no matter how well you do your job, no matter what you achieve, the electric feeling is absent.

When I do my job well, when customers like me, I get better tips. In contrast to my day job, where I show up, sit at a desk, do my work, and go home with a check for my time.

ETA: I know I'd work harder at my day job if doing $30/hour quality work would actually get me $30/hour!

[jadet]

I hear about this a lot. I agree with it.