How Much Money Do You Need To Be Happy In 2021?
In my 50s, I look at other people struggling to make more money, save more money, grow more money – I often wonder why?
Even if you live in a palace, you can only sit in one chair at a time.
To lie down to sleep, you need a pillow, a blanket and a soft surface.
When everyone dies, they get the same size casket. There is no S, M, L or XL (unless the deceased is very obese)
The bare and true necessities: the things we must have – to be absolutely HAPPY
- Health
- Food
- Shelter
- A Purpose
- Family
- Close Relationships
- Be A Valued Member Of A Community
- Access to the Great Outdoors
- Some Physical Activity
When I realised the above.
It is not so hard to be happy and content.
I live in a tiny rented flat, drive an old car and use my dining table as my office desk.
I didn’t need any fancy equipment, just a simple laptop, a mobile phone and WiFI – that is enough for me to connect to the world and you, my dear readers.
Am I happy?
An absolute Yesss…
Health
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said: “Man. Because he sacrifices his health to make money, then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.”
How Much Money You Need To Be Happy – The Story of The Fisherman And The Businessman
Do you know how much money you need to be happy?
This is a timeless question.
The truth is that we don’t need nearly as much money as most people think.
There is plenty of research that says most of the happiness you can obtain can be achieved at a basic living standard.
More money can contribute to more happiness, but only to a certain point.
This makes sense to me: does anyone honestly believe that people were not happy thousands of years ago, before the iPhone’s invention?
I believe that beyond the basics, everything else is FLUFF.
The most important things in life, the things that bring us basic happiness – most of those things are free or virtually free.
These things do not cost money, for the most part.
But it seems that few people get this.
People go through tremendous struggles to obtain something more, always more.
The following is a wonderful short story by one of my favourite authors: the famous Brazilian author, Paolo Coelho.
It’s an illustration of how little we may need to be happy.
The Fisherman And The Businessman by Paulo Coelho
There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore, having caught quite a few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?”
The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and the evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”
The businessman suggested the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and your distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”
The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”
Paulo Coelho de Souza is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist best known for his novel The Alchemist. In 2014, he uploaded his personal papers online to create a virtual Paulo Coelho Foundation.
Happiness Income (How Much Money Do You Need to Be Happy?
A well-known 2010 study by Princeton researchers Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that people tend to be happier as their annual income rises.
The “happiness” increases unit it reaches a point.
The Princeton researchers worked out that this was about $75,000.
While a person’s Income is associated with happiness, there are debates about the nature of how this associated.
Would happiness rise indefinitely with income, or is there a point at which higher incomes no longer lead to greater well-being?
A study that uses data from the Gallup World Poll shows astonishing results.
Globally, based on a sample of over 1.7 million individuals worldwide, the satiation occurs at
- Life Evaluation at $95,000
- Emotional Well Being at $60,000 to $75,000
The study shows there is substantial variation across world regions, with satiation occurring later in wealthier regions.
In certain parts of the world, incomes beyond satiation are associated with lower life evaluations.
These findings on income and happiness have practical and theoretical significance at
• the individual
• institutional and
• national levels
They point to a degree of happiness adaptation and that money influences happiness by fulfilling both needs and increasing material desires.
How Much Money Do You Need To Be Happy?
So, again, do you know how much money you need to be happy?
Perhaps not nearly as much as you’ve been led to believe.
Obviously, we do need some money in this life to cover the basics.
Without that, we will likely be miserable.
But, you can certainly be happy without much else beyond the basics.
When you recognize this, you can quickly become free. Share this story with a friend today.
The Fisherman And The Businessman by Paulo Coelho
