Closing Thought–11Dec23
Can we put a price tag on our happiness?
Some will say you cannot put a price tag on happiness….but apparently you can.
Most Americans (59%) think money can buy happiness, and a new survey on the subject even puts a number on it. On average, Americans say they’d need about $1.2 million to achieve happiness, according to the survey by financial services firm Empower. The figure breaks down in interesting ways depending on age groups, with millennials needing the most at nearly $1.7 million and those in Gen Z the least at just under $500,000, per CBS News. Boomers need about $1 million, and Gen Xers a bit over 1.2 million. In terms of gender, women would be happy with $880,000, and men want nearly $1.5 million. Some other findings:
- Salary: Americans want hefty salaries. On average, they said a salary of $284,000 a year translates to happiness, with men ($381,000) needing far more than women ($183,000). Millennials cited a CEO-like mark of $525,000, Gen Z $128,000, Gen X $130,000, and Boomers $124,000.)
- Retirement: People on average plan to retire at age 63, with Gen Z the most ambitious of the bunch looking at age 54. Still, the latter figure is up from 49 last year, suggesting that inflation is causing people to adjust their goals, per a news release on the survey.
- Cup of coffee: The spending flexibility that comes with having enough money is cited as a prime source of contentment. For example, 62% of millennials say they are willing to spend $7 a day on a cup of coffee because of the enjoyment it brings.
I do not need a million bucks I can be happy without money and I have done it in the past and I shall do it again if the need arises.
With the numbers in I ask the question again….can we put a price tag on happiness?
What say you?
I Read, I Writer, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Timely question. I say no. My aunt left me money from her life insurance and I still haven’t cashed it. I want my aunt back. I’m a weirdo, so say my family. They would have had it spent.
I think you are a great person for wanting your aunt back instead of the cash….well done chuq
People tend to equate the extravagant life styles they see on television, streaming platforms, etc. with some kind of sense of happiness. The media and corporations really push the concept that having things like an expensive car, an over priced house, designer clothes, etc. is the path to being happy. It’s really rather sad.
Very sad….chuq
The more you have, the more you have to lose. The more you have to lose, the more you have to work to save it. And the more you have to save, the harder it is to flee that which wants/might take it from you. Material stuff or means to have material stuff don’t equal happiness. I don’t know…I settle for health to have happiness. Toss in health, family, and old friends.
Well said Doug…..chuq
I cannot legitimately enter this conversation because I am in the “Happiness” category and I have to tell you that my money has bought me a shitload of happiness… and it has also cost me some grief over the years too….but I had damned well rather have it than not…since I worked my ass off to get it in the first place.
Happiness or just replaceable crap…..I am glad that you have found your happiness. chuq
thank you… my portfolio manager thanks you too…his name is “mark.”
I am sure he does….chuq
$7 on a cup of coffee? I refuse to pay more than $4 dollars (equivalent), even in a big chain coffee bar. And even then only if I am out of the house for some reason. They must have more money than sense.
Best wishes, Pete.
Some of those concoctions are much more…..chuq