Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How much money do people need to be happy?

qz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 273 posts

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#91

Post by darkerside »

criley2 wrote: post #58
_dark_matter_ wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are still lots of QOL improvements to be made above, say, $150k. It may depend a lot on if you have kids and where you live. This is especially true when compounded with typical retirement savings and kid expenses. For example: - Housekeepers who come often - Paying someone to manage the yard - Private school and college funds for kids - International vacations for the whole family - Paying for family to visit…

The normal explanation is that the happiness derived per dollar decreases with every dollar. The idea being that a couple making $200k jointly per year spending $800/mo on a maid gives them far, far less happiness than a homeless person getting their first warm meal and shower this month.

A working couple with young kids getting a regular maid for the first time can be life changing. It's not the same as your homeless example, but may be easy to underestimate or trivialize.

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#92

Post by majos »

endymi0n wrote: post #30
aidenn0 wrote: post #20

I've seen it suggested elsewhere that there is no saturation point, it's just that the relationship is logarithmic, and truncated logarithmic datasets look asymptotic.

You‘re probably referring to this research: https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/05/daily-... ...which by the way I find extremely plausible, just judging by the fact that most of our senses (hearing volume & frequency, light intensity, etc.) are perceived in a logarithmic way. That being said, my personal opinion is that money does not make people happy, but it definitely prevents a lot of causes of un…

Or as Kanye West put it, "having money's not everything, not having it is".

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#93

Post by foxylad »

derekp7 wrote: post #4

Is this net income (after taxes, and possibly after 401k [or equivalent] savings)? I would say that having no debt, or at least having manageable debt, along with knowing you are saving enough for retirement, and making enough that you don't have to second-guess if you can afford every purchase you make, is the real cutoff. For example, if you don't have mortgage debt then you are probably renting. So I consider mort…

My last child got a good job today, and as well as a certain pride I feel a sense of relief similar to when we paid off our mortgage.

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#95

Post by Qwertious »

dreamfactored wrote: post #80
Nition wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect there is another level above that at financial independence, where you have enough wealth that you don't have to work. Where you can lose the fear of losing your job, or go off and work on what you want even if it doesn't make much or any money.

That's a level you can contribute to by being frugal. It's tough to get to but easier than you'd think. The barriers to moving to this level tend to be as much social and psychological as financial e.g. families, mortgages, need for security. The next level above financial independence is financial freedom (you can just get whatever you want, from shoes to houses) - off the top of my head I would guess this is probab…

>That's a level you can contribute to by being frugal.

J suspect that ceteris paribus, being frugal reduces happiness - by definition, it's not getting things you want to get.

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#96

Post by Qwertious »

spodek wrote: post #71
robotresearcher wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Folding laundry. Robots are miserably bad at this, so far.

There are clothes that don't need folding and lifestyles that don't need clothes that need folding.

So, join a nudist colony to avoid doing laundry?

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#97

Post by tmnvix »

rconti wrote: post #78
spodek wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are clothes that don't need folding and lifestyles that don't need clothes that need folding.

well, I take "folding" to mean "putting away". Eg, putting your socks in a drawer (usually balled up together, but I guess you could just toss individuals in there).. hanging up tshirts and sweatshirts, putting away your jeans and workout clothes.. Some kind of organization is ideal, because I often live out of the clean laundry hamper and it's a chore to hunt for stuff every time you need clothes.

When I'm not living with others, this problem goes away. I start out with things in the wardrobe and drawers but as I get distracted by the things I actually want to do I gravitate towards a sort of inbox(clean)/outbox(dirty) 'floordrobe' system. It's surprisingly efficient.

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#98

Post by ChuckMcM »

derekp7 wrote: post #4

Is this net income (after taxes, and possibly after 401k [or equivalent] savings)? I would say that having no debt, or at least having manageable debt, along with knowing you are saving enough for retirement, and making enough that you don't have to second-guess if you can afford every purchase you make, is the real cutoff. For example, if you don't have mortgage debt then you are probably renting. So I consider mort…

I would not be surprised if you were exactly right with this: I would say that having no debt, or at least having manageable debt, along with knowing you are saving enough for retirement, and making enough that you don't have to second-guess if you can afford every purchase you make, is the real cutoff.

Many people I have talked with about happiness are really talking about non-anxiety. Basically defining being 'happy' as having zero anxiety and being 'un-happy' as worrying about (anxious) one or more things.

In that model not having debt relieves future obligation anxiety, owning a house addresses 'where will I live' anxiety, savings address 'what if something comes up' anxiety etc.

If that model held true for the survey participants then once you had enough income to offset your anxieties you would not get any more 'happy'.

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#99

Post by Scarbutt »

Bucephalus355 wrote: post #81

There are a lot of posts, articles, and general interest over the last 15 years (compared to before) on “being and maximizing happiness”. At face value, this seems very natural. However I think a lot could be gained by tackling the necessity of even asking that question. Nietzsche has this really interesting point that every philosopher since Plato was most interested in “the truth” without seriously considering if “…

Christianity, suffering is turned into a much more worthwhile and meaningful pursuit

Can you elaborate on that? not a christian, just curious.

Re: How much money do people need to be happy?

#100

Post by Qwertious »

tasuki wrote: post #39
howeyc wrote: post #17

Kind of makes sense to me, once you get to a point where you're set. That is you can easily afford the main things (housing, food), plus the extras (electronics, vacations, hobbies) you need a much larger income to "move the needle" so to speak. You still need to work 40 hours a week or whatever, and only get X weeks of vacation. Having a 180K salary instead of 150K doesn't change any of these obligations, or change…

Agree with most of your points! Just one thing: you don't need a "buy/rent a jet" income to not have to commute to work daily. Retiring early appears to be surprisingly easy with decent income and good spending habits. Taking a year or two off even more so. Eg with the 80k (the more expensive car you mentioned), you can live handsomely for 4+ years in South-East Asia or Eastern Europe.

>Just one thing: you don't need a "buy/rent a jet" income to not have to commute to work daily

$3mil let's you live on $50k/year for 60 years. And realistically, more than that due to interest - 2% of 3mil is 60k, so if you have it well-invested you could live off it with $50k/yr indefinitely.

Post reply on HN