5 ms·

Money = Happiness, but when it buys experiences

23 points by robg 18y ago

zandorg 18y ago
I think that if you make enough money, you get to mix in circles with people who can make you happy. But I could be wrong.
- numair 18y ago
  Actually, you get to mix in circles with people who can make you miserable. But that's a whole 'nother story ;)
TomOfTTB 18y ago
This article really annoyed me. Yes experiences can produce happiness in people who crave experiences but what of people who don't? For what my opinion is worth here is the story behind Money and Happiness: Money does buy happiness but only if you really think through what your end goal is. So the guy who buys a bunch of stuff with his money and isn't happy didn't realize he was buying the stuff to get respect and that the stuff wouldn't actually get him that result. So he ends up not happy. But that doesn't mean he would be happy if he'd traveled Europe instead. Happiness is an individual pursuit. I'll give you an example from my own life (if I might be so bold as to hold myself up as a template for happiness) I think I've done pretty well for a guy in his 20s (I have a few hundred thousand dollars to my name). That money makes me very happy. But you know what I buy with it? Nothing. Zip. Nada. What I wanted out of life was the freedom to do what I want. I love to program and I wanted to spend my time trying to help the world. That money allows me to take a job where I make way less than I could elsewhere and still be confident that I won't starve and that I can retire someday if I want to. Not an experience, not a possession but it makes me very happy because I focused on what I wanted from my money and found a way to get that out of it. That, to me, is how money buys happiness. There's not hard set rule like "spend on experiences" it's just a matter of honestly asking yourself what you really want and then logically finding a way to go after it.
- gnaritas 18y ago
  Might I ask how you accumulated that much money so young?
  - TomOfTTB 18y ago
    It's the combination of being recruited right out of high school to a startup (which I contractually can't name but which was out of business after the first bubble), growing up poor (so when I did get a little money I didn't know what to do with it other than to store it away) and finally Bob Brinker who I follow religiously (http://www.bobbrinker.com/portfolio.asp http://www.bobbrinker.com/portfolio.asp) But really the second is the most important. People have no idea how much money actually passes through their hands in an average year (or how much money it can get them if they invest it wisely). Yes I made $93,000 a year for a little over a year at 18 which was a huge break but I've added significantly to that simply by only buying things I really wanted to have and stuffing the rest away.
- vaksel 18y ago
  Money can buy happiness, but I think a few hundred K is not enough. The money needs to give you a complete freedom, so to me at least that means being able to at least retire right away w/o having to work an extra hour of my life
  - TomOfTTB 18y ago
    Not meant as an insult but I can't help but think you'll never be happy. The person who scoffs at a few hundred k is usually the person who ends up scoffing at a few million when they get that and so on. Happiness is accepting the good luck you get and not letting yourself become fixated on the great luck you didn't.
    - vaksel 18y ago
      I'm not scoffing at a few hundred K, I'm just saying that if someone uses the whole money=happiness equation, then they'll want more than the basic things. But if you think about it, your basic necessities are more or less taken care off once you hit middle class. Pretty much the only difference after that is the size of someone's house, the car you drive and the vacations you take. Everything else is more or less equal. 50K = Honda + Decent house + 1 vacation costing $3K 100K = BMW + Slightly better house + 1 vacation costing $6K 1mm = Ferrari + BMW, Big Mansion + 1 vacation costing $15K + maybe a yacht
asciilifeform 18y ago
Money == happiness when it buys me more time to spend on creative pursuits.
gaius 18y ago
You can trade money for time. But for that to make you happy, you have to know what you want and yet not have time to do it.
tomjen 18y ago
It is more socially acceptable to have a nice holiday in Europe than it is to seem rich (by having _lots_ of stuff), and I can't seem to find the place where they talk about that so I am pretty skeptical of their claim.
kingkongrevenge 18y ago
You have to consider chance personal disasters and look at the expected value calculation. Measure net potential misery, not "happiness." Rich people can much better deal with setbacks that would destroy a normal person's life. Consider getting the best possible medical care for cancer. Or dealing with a long forced unemployment. Or raising young children after the death of a spouse. Poor people can be ruined by these things, whereas a rich person can likely continue to enjoy life.

23 points by robg 18y ago

I think that if you make enough money, you get to mix in circles with people who can make you happy. But I could be wrong.

numair 18y ago
Actually, you get to mix in circles with people who can make you miserable. But that's a whole 'nother story ;)

TomOfTTB 18y ago

This article really annoyed me. Yes experiences can produce happiness in people who crave experiences but what of people who don't? For what my opinion is worth here is the story behind Money and Happiness: Money does buy happiness but only if you really think through what your end goal is. So the guy who buys a bunch of stuff with his money and isn't happy didn't realize he was buying the stuff to get respect and that the stuff wouldn't actually get him that result. So he ends up not happy. But that doesn't mean he would be happy if he'd traveled Europe instead. Happiness is an individual pursuit. I'll give you an example from my own life (if I might be so bold as to hold myself up as a template for happiness) I think I've done pretty well for a guy in his 20s (I have a few hundred thousand dollars to my name). That money makes me very happy. But you know what I buy with it? Nothing. Zip. Nada. What I wanted out of life was the freedom to do what I want. I love to program and I wanted to spend my time trying to help the world. That money allows me to take a job where I make way less than I could elsewhere and still be confident that I won't starve and that I can retire someday if I want to. Not an experience, not a possession but it makes me very happy because I focused on what I wanted from my money and found a way to get that out of it. That, to me, is how money buys happiness. There's not hard set rule like "spend on experiences" it's just a matter of honestly asking yourself what you really want and then logically finding a way to go after it.

gnaritas 18y ago
Might I ask how you accumulated that much money so young?
- TomOfTTB 18y ago
  It's the combination of being recruited right out of high school to a startup (which I contractually can't name but which was out of business after the first bubble), growing up poor (so when I did get a little money I didn't know what to do with it other than to store it away) and finally Bob Brinker who I follow religiously (http://www.bobbrinker.com/portfolio.asp http://www.bobbrinker.com/portfolio.asp) But really the second is the most important. People have no idea how much money actually passes through their hands in an average year (or how much money it can get them if they invest it wisely). Yes I made $93,000 a year for a little over a year at 18 which was a huge break but I've added significantly to that simply by only buying things I really wanted to have and stuffing the rest away.
vaksel 18y ago
Money can buy happiness, but I think a few hundred K is not enough. The money needs to give you a complete freedom, so to me at least that means being able to at least retire right away w/o having to work an extra hour of my life
- TomOfTTB 18y ago
  Not meant as an insult but I can't help but think you'll never be happy. The person who scoffs at a few hundred k is usually the person who ends up scoffing at a few million when they get that and so on. Happiness is accepting the good luck you get and not letting yourself become fixated on the great luck you didn't.
  - vaksel 18y ago
    I'm not scoffing at a few hundred K, I'm just saying that if someone uses the whole money=happiness equation, then they'll want more than the basic things. But if you think about it, your basic necessities are more or less taken care off once you hit middle class. Pretty much the only difference after that is the size of someone's house, the car you drive and the vacations you take. Everything else is more or less equal. 50K = Honda + Decent house + 1 vacation costing $3K 100K = BMW + Slightly better house + 1 vacation costing $6K 1mm = Ferrari + BMW, Big Mansion + 1 vacation costing $15K + maybe a yacht

asciilifeform 18y ago

Money == happiness when it buys me more time to spend on creative pursuits.

gaius 18y ago

You can trade money for time. But for that to make you happy, you have to know what you want and yet not have time to do it.

tomjen 18y ago

It is more socially acceptable to have a nice holiday in Europe than it is to seem rich (by having _lots_ of stuff), and I can't seem to find the place where they talk about that so I am pretty skeptical of their claim.

kingkongrevenge 18y ago

You have to consider chance personal disasters and look at the expected value calculation. Measure net potential misery, not "happiness." Rich people can much better deal with setbacks that would destroy a normal person's life. Consider getting the best possible medical care for cancer. Or dealing with a long forced unemployment. Or raising young children after the death of a spouse. Poor people can be ruined by these things, whereas a rich person can likely continue to enjoy life.