It’s an age-old question many entrepreneurs face – can money buy happiness? Traditional wisdom will tell you that no, it can’t. Material wealth is not the key to being happy.
While I broadly agree with that, I’m actually going to give a more controversial answer.
Can money buy happiness? Yes, it can. But with caveats.
Can Money Buy Happiness?
As we seek success in business, we chase turnover and profit. We want to make money. But keep sight of the fact that turnover is vanity and profit is, without doubt, sanity.
Then we are told that money isn’t the route to happiness. It is true that a bank balance ending in a row of zeroes won’t, alone, make you happy. The work it takes to get there can leave you feeling isolated, lonely, exhausted, and personally unfulfilled.
However, it is equally true that the money you earn can make you happy, if you use it in the right way.
Start with a Target
I’m going to argue that money and happiness have a correlation. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be a millionaire to be happy.
Some years ago, Princeton conducted a study that showed happiness only increased as earnings rose to and reached $75,000. After this, happiness levels evened out.
This study was more than a decade ago, so the amount has probably shifted upward by now. But the core truth remains – having enough income to cover our basic needs removes stress and worry from our lives and makes us happier. Knowing you can pay the bills gives you peace of mind.
The financial freedom of knowing your liabilities are covered means you can enjoy life rather than spend time worrying about providing for yourself and your family.
It is an obvious point, perhaps, but a low income that doesn’t cover the bills leaves a person anxious and unhappy.
So, in the simplest terms, when we ask, ‘can money buy happiness’, the answer must be yes. Well, as the quote goes, have you ever seen a sad person riding a jet ski? Joking aside, YES is the answer. We all have our own version of the definition of happiness and how having assets can help the journey.
Money and Mental Health
A further study showed that the incidence of serious mental illness could be reduced by having a higher income. For many, emotional well-being can be dictated by providing for ourselves and our dependents. The research showed that changes in income are crucial drivers of emotional happiness.
This academic work highlights that once you achieve a certain income – enough to look after yourself and your family – you should be happier. It follows, then, that if you have cash to spare, for luxury cars, designer clothes, holiday homes, and VIP travel, you should be even happier.
But that’s rarely the case. I know many entrepreneurs, including myself in the past, who have all the trappings of material success, but are miserable. The work it takes to get there can leave them separated from people, physically exhausted, and constantly worried about everything going wrong.
They are too tired to enjoy the symbols of success, have no one to share them with, and cannot relax due to the pressure to keep going.
So, how can money buy happiness if those with the most can be so unhappy?
Spend It Right
The answer is relatively simple. If you want your money to make you happy, think about how you spend it.
A Malibu beach house, a Lamborghini in the driveway, and a glass of chilled Cristal in your hand sound great. But if you are sitting alone feeling anxious about Q2 results, you are not happy.
If you have enjoyed success and earned enough to cover your bills with cash to spare, the trick to finding happiness is how you spend it.
You can’t go wrong ensuring you have assets to fall back on rather than just cash in the bank. Get that right, and the cars, jet skis, etc, can come later.
How Can Money Buy Happiness?
I’m going to outline three ways you can let the rewards of your labour make you truly happy by bringing more fulfilment to your life.
Spend on others
The saying goes, ‘it is better to give than to receive’. And there’s science to support this! Research conducted by Harvard across more than 100 countries revealed that those who give to charity are happier – whether they are rich or not. The perception of happiness rises more when we see how what we give positively impacts on another.
You only have to recall the buzz you had giving someone a gift, perhaps at Christmas, that you knew they would love. How did you feel watching their face light up?
We all crave love and connection; they help improve our quality of life. When you give someone something they want or need and see the positive result, that’s what you get. And you get happy.
It isn’t just about giving presents to family. During my professional journey, I have been in the position to help colleagues and staff, helping people with debts and medical expenses, for example.
I was in a financial position where I could help and did so not because I wanted to feel good, but because it was the right thing to do. However, I cannot deny that seeing the recipient relieved of their anxiety and smiling again did make me happy. Can money buy you happiness? Yeah, it can.
Experience Life
Nice stuff can make you feel good and make life easier and more comfortable. But creating a memory will bring you greater happiness than another ‘thing’ in your life.
The world has so much to offer. Yet few of us in the fortunate position of being able to experience those delights do so. We’re too busy working to live.
If you want to see how your money can make you happy, invest in an experience. The memories you create are priceless.
I’ve been fortunate to attend the Monaco Grand Prix on several occasions. As a motorsport fan, just being there is a thrill. But what has made these trips valuable to me was sharing the experience with others.
Years on, we still have conversations that begin, ‘do you remember that time when…’, and we laugh.
In the future, you’ll be sitting at your desk or in a meeting and will remember how that experience made you feel, and you’ll smile. Your connection to those you shared the experience with will be strengthened. As I said before, human connection can be key to our emotional state.
Interestingly, over time our memory of these experiences actually becomes better than the reality. Objects we buy, however luxurious, we some become used to and take for granted, diminishing the happiness return they give.
Take your time
Time is our most valuable resource. We never seem to have enough and don’t always make the best use of it.
My final tip for answering the question ‘can money buy happiness?’ is to suggest you buy yourself some time.
Can you really buy time, though? Yes, and it’s simpler than you think.
For example, if your commute means leaving home earlier than you want and getting home later, you may be tempted to buy a fancy saloon to make the journey more comfortable. If you’re interested in buying time, consider moving closer to the office.
It will cost you more, of course, but can you put a price on being able to spend more time with loved ones than you do sitting in a tailback?
It is really about time management, so you have more free hours to spend doing what makes you happy. Invest in time-saving tools or spend on expanding your team so you can delegate.
Then you have time to call your own. Many entrepreneurs, including myself, enjoy working. But what if you could spend more hours on innovation, strategising, and blue-sky thinking – the fun stuff – than you can now? Invest in reducing the time you personally spend on routine, repetitive tasks, and find your happiness.
Sure, you can probably do your own accounts, but does it bring you joy? Would outsourcing to a professional accountant not only ensure the job is done properly, but also give you back hours of your time?
That’s time you can buy to spend with your family, pursue your own interests, and attend the events that make you smile. Attending your child’s first sports day or stage debut will bring you more fulfilment than filing annual returns you prepared yourself.
Listen to Yourself
No one can tell you how to be happy – it is a personal experience. You may have read this article and dismissed it because, to you, being happy is about burning the midnight oil and then spending four hours sleeping alone in your mansion before heading back to the office.
Let me say this to those people and all readers: listen to yourself. When you think about your financial situation, what are your thoughts? Do you feel empowered or limited by your income? Is your burgeoning bank balance actually making you happy?
The pursuit of wealth is a treadmill. As we achieve success, our aspirations increase, and we chase more money. It never ends. If we discover how to use that wealth to make us – and others – happy, then we at least have a meaningful purpose that adds fulfilment to our own lives and those around us.
