It’s pretty easy to say “money can’t buy happiness” when you have a lot of it.
But I have to say that I’ve met some wealthy people who seem completely miserable.
And, of course, there are a million books, movies, and TV shows that prove this point, too.
But I guess you just never know until you’re flush with cash, huh?
AskReddit users shared how they’d respond to someone who says that money can’t buy happiness.
Let’s take a look.
1. One way to look at it.
“I’ve been poor and now I’m fairly well off.
When I went from under $15k a year and surviving off the grace of friends and family to $30k a year my happiness more than doubled.
In fact it was not calculable my increase. I had food shelter and a handed down Xbox. Fully belly and somewhere warm to sleep.
I now gross well over $120k a year. and I might be twice as happy as I was when I settled into my $30k a year lifestyle. For a time while a worked like a dog to change careers and had zero social life I was not happy at all.
I think money can buy you out of misery but it can’t buy you into happiness.”
2. No more worries.
“The biggest satisfaction is when you have enough that you can stop stressing 24/7 about money.
Buying a nicer car or a new toy is great, but there’s nothing as nice as not worrying constantly.”
3. Part of it.
“I think one of the really nice things is to be able to feel like your a successful person.
Like you can go to a high school reunion and be excited.
A lot of people don’t talk about these things but it’s all part of it.”
4. Interesting.
“Diagnosed mental health problems increase as wealth goes up.
Probably one of those complex links combined with observation bias. But in either case you can be so poor that you can’t afford to be depressed.
That really sums up our existence pretty nicely I think.”
5. Comfortable and miserable.
“I have money and severe treatment-resistant depression. I’ve tried every treatment available and nothing works for me.
Money can’t buy me happiness because my severe anhedonia prevents me from experiencing happiness. Even so, I’m immensely grateful I have the money to not worry about bills and rent and food.
I’m comfortable in my misery.”
6. What are they talking about?
“Never really understood this comparison.
You need money to pay your bills.
People who cannot afford to live aren’t sad, they are desperate.”
7. Here you go.
“The psychology studies that concluded money doesn’t buy happiness were working from a standpoint of bills being paid with some disposable income.
After that point, more money doesn’t correlate to more happiness, so focus on hobbies, family, ect. instead of killing yourself to get a promotion. Before that point, money and happiness are absolutely correlated.”
8. Boom!
“Poverty doesn’t buy anything, but it provides plenty.
Anxiety, depression, fear.
I remember the days of driving to work wondering if my old car would actually make it there.”
9. Simple.
“The absence of money causes unhappiness but having money doesn’t necessarily create happiness.”
10. No sharing.
“The saying “Money can’t buy happiness” is propaganda by the rich to convince the poor to not pursue wealth, because the rich don’t want to share.
The same is true of the saying, “More money, more problems.””
11. Yes.
“If you don’t have money, the problem will always be money.
If you have money, you’ll have time to focus on other problems, that probably would never surface if you were poor.”
12. Big difference.
“I don’t doubt that millionaires face hardship and have difficulties in their lives. Some of those problems may even be similar to the ones poor people experience.
But I just spent a quarter of my paycheck at the dentist because for the ten years before I got my current job, going to the dentist before this became a huge issue would have taken all of my paycheck.
And that’s with insurance. Pretty sure that’s not a millionaire problem, and unf**king my teeth a while ago would have helped me a lot.”
Do you think money can buy happiness?
Let us know in the comments!
Thanks in advance!
