Study: Rich people two times happier than poor people

Can you post a link to that study?
The Gallup research (directed by Daniel Kahneman) does not show those results exactly.
After $40K/per capita, happiness flatlines. More money does not add happiness.

JimN

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Ask me about Power Partnering

Money can buy you happiness and contentment, but surely the most important factor is a person's health...

Yes, so many people try to tell you that money doesn't buy happiness...but it sure makes life an awful lot easier!

Without enough money to pay your bills each month, life isn't that fun...

I think alot of times people who say that money doesn't buy happiness been rich, sooo, long they forgot what it is like to really live poor. There is a difference living comfortable, "saying", money don't buy happiness, and, "living" it(poor) on a day to day basis.

P.S. Doctors who aren't happy probably live beyond their means. First time I heard Doctors are unhappy folks. Though, millionaire next door does speak of almost half Doctors financial status not good when it comes to the investing department. Which goes back to first sentence on P.S.

Money might make people happy but it's often a hard fall if they lose it.

It's best to have the majority of your happiness banked with life alone.

I agree with Jim - lottery winners are clearly an example of this. The more more money a person has, the bigger their financial challenges become. Instead of $5500 in credit card debt - could more like $550,000...

I think there is some truth to the statement, but it is being analyzed for the wrong reasons. True the rich and wealthy seem happier, but they have a few things going for them. 1. Most of the time they have less or very different stresses in their life which makes them happier. 2. They have the freedom to take time off from work and associate with people in their lives. 3. people want to be around them. In my oppinion, it all comes back to attention. Without a good social life, people tend to be more depressed or unhappy. Non wealthy people who have good social lives are happy in that aspect, but have more financial stress that takes away from their overall happiness. This is just my opinion though.

J.D.

Here's what I've noticed from my neighborhood:

Poor guy is depressed. "Oh, you must have depression!! Oh, you must need a drink!! Oh, you must have had a bad relationship!! Oh, you must need a break!! Oh, you must have had a bad day!! Oh, your mom needs to treat you better!! Oh, <insert excuse here>"

Rich guy is depressed. "Oh, you must be rich..." Almost like if you're rich, then somehow you're either supposed to be happy 24/7 or there's something wrong with your money and you should get rid of it to be like 'normal' people.

Seriously.

I agree with Perfictlovehere
It all depends on how the person is on the inside do's that person
feel in tune with the universe.

For me, those who are able to find joy out of simple things in life are the happiest people in the world. Most of the time, they are those who are not much exposed to the luxuries of life. True, they may not have the capacity to buy their wants in a heartbeat, but it is because of their inability that they are able to cherish simple blessings they receive everyday of their lives. Growing up from a developing country, where majority of the population is beyond poverty line, I've witnessed tons of circumstances where genuine happiness is reflected in the eyes of the less fortunate (in terms of money). One instance was when I was walking downtown from school and happened to pass by a lady with three kids (a school age, a toddler, and an infant) sitting outside a grocery store with a can placed in front for people to drop their loose change. For some reason, I was so touched by the scene and decided to give the lady the loaf of bread I was planning to eat for breakfast the next day. The lady was surprised (at the same time thrilled) when she saw the item I was offering her. She took the bread loaf, looked at me in the eye,smiling, and thanked me. I was taken aback by her reaction, to me it was just another loaf of bread, but to her, it meant that she and her kids won't be sleeping with empty stomachs. I simply gave away something of not much value to me, but the reaction I received had a smile plastered on my face the entire evening.

My experience may be unrelated to internet marketing, but main point I wish to address is that money is not the measure of happiness, it is how you find value in the things you receive and how you share that happiness to others.

I agree with this, happiness can't be measured. How can a study even objectively correlate any two people's different standards of happiness? Also what defines "rich" and what defines "poor". It didn't even give income brackets so how can you take a study like that seriously.

Having lots of money makes life much easier. When you have that 'F-You' money, it's like getting a pass in life. You can pretty much do anything and go anywhere you want. When you have it easy, it's easy to become happy.

I think I put this somewhere else in WF:

Joe is depressed, argues with his wife, and has to take a ton of antidepressants. Joe makes $20,000 a year. People tell him he is sad because of his dad, because of his mom, because of his 8th grade teacher, whatever.

James is depressed, argues with his wife, and has to take a ton of antidepressants. James makes $200,000 a year. People tell him he is sad because he's rich.

It's a stigma. Yeah...

what you are trying to do is relate life to logic. if so, the opposite will be true too. you would rather be rich and happy rather than be poor and happy.....or you would rather be with this logic not only are you validating that money doesn't define happiness or unhappiness, if you were in a position to make that choice, you are doing something wrong in life because no matter what, you have failed to find what would make you happy.

based on what i have already said, that money is a distraction to life itself, if you choose to be rich and unhappy, your chances of finding your happiness decreases. so in effect, you are choosing a path where you don't even care about your happiness. just the money. the sad truth to it all is most people WOULD choose the money thinking their lives would be easier but there is no price you can place on finding inner peace and happiness. that's a road few people take only because it's the most difficult.....but it's the most rewarding.....

one of my other philosphies in life is "the easy path is usually not the best path"

Unless living in the jungle or in a monastery how can one be happy without any money?

I haven't met anyone who is happy and poor. Never.

Happy and rich, yes, but not happy and poor.

I am always happier when I have more money. I feel more free to do things I like.

the survey is a joke. it talks about how happiness can be defined by how much money you have? that's only one aspect of of happiness. the materialistic aspect. there are many more aspects to consider. (love, fullfillment, inner peace, morals and values, nature, who you were born to be, not where you ended up, etc....)

there are so many aspects to happiness. rich or poor, life is a struggle and life is much much more than just money if one is trying to find true happiness.

to me, life isn't about money. money is a distraction to life. money is good to buy the neccessities, and if you can afford it, other things too that can make life a little bit more fun to live in. but can it truely buy happiness? i seriously doubt it.

a good example of what i am trying to say here is that i remember taking a trip down south once. i like to explore and entered a town which seemed to still be segregated. one small section of town you had the big homes. they were very pretty. the shades were drawn, nobody was outside(probably working for more money or something), and it seemed a little desolate for my liking. then a few blocks over, i noticed a huge change. i saw some run down houses that needed painting, people sitting on their front porches enjoying the outside, and kids were actually playing with eachother in the middle of the street. this was my experience between a rich white section of a neighborhood, and a poor black section of the same neighborhood.

people who say you have more freedom when you have more money are the people who don't understand life OR happiness. they are caged in a society where they don't think money can ever be a distraction to what life is really about. they are the same people who see the outter shell of everything that surrounds them and are too weak to dig deeper to see life as it really is.

ofcourse there are exceptions, but i have travelled a lot and the exceptions are very few.

i grew up in an upper middle class family and i have lived on a budget of $300 a month. i grew up where things could be paid for me, and i've lived where i had to do without.

happiness comes from inside you. it's more like a choice. "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out". it's about seeing the beauty that surounds you that has nothing to do with money.

the funny thing about money that i have noticed is that most of the time, the rich don't even have enough years in their life to spend all the money they received in their lifetime and it goes against my philosophy in life that "too much of a good thing, turns out to be a bad thing". for many reasons this is true, but the main reason is that in life, there needs to be balance.

when most people are making a lot of money, their focus is on how to spend it or reinvest it. their focus on what money CAN'T buy becomes more dim. like i said, it's a distraction.

it's true that lots of money changes people, but for most, not for the better.....