Introduction
Studying the relationship between financial well-being and personal happiness is an essential aspect that can reveal people’s preferences and views on whether a large income directly correlates with a positive attitude or not. Selected articles address this topic and offer relevant findings and reasoning. In her research Do We Need $75,000 a Year to Be Happy, Luscombe argued that “people’s evaluations were much more tied to their income” (2). This means that, despite personal achievements and successes, financial well-being is one of the key criteria associated with a positive outlook on life. In the article Science Says Money Does Buy Happiness If You Spend It the Right Way, Rampton provides a number of positive perspectives that money helps achieve, for instance, buying experiences, “eliminating financial anxiety,” and some others (1). This position also emphasizes that high income is a catalyst for positive emotions and has an effect on well-being. As a result, money is a means of buying things that contribute to accumulating pleasant emotions, but it itself does not bring happiness.
Main Discussion
Research shows that wealth is not directly correlated with happiness. Luscombe found that “most Americans – 85% – regardless of their annual income, felt happy each day” (1). In other words, the income needed to maintain a relatively normal standard of living is less of a determinant of happiness than health, a strong family, and other values. The values that money cannot buy play a more important role in life. Therefore, income is one of the instruments of well-being but is not a direct indicator of happiness or a factor influencing the maintenance of a consistently positive outlook.
As a result, money can be regarded as one of the tools that allow obtaining positive emotions. Moreover, as Rampton notes, it provides an opportunity to help others and give joy, for instance, through charity (2). In conditions of class inequality, the ability to have a large income contributes to acquiring new experiences and impressions. However, the value is not money itself but its capabilities. A person who has much money but is not able to spend it is not much different from a person who does not have this resource. Thus, to achieve a happy life, appropriate conditions are needed to use the accumulated capital.
Moreover, money is of significant value when it serves as a means to an end. Luscombe gives an example of financial rivalry with neighbors and remarks that, in such a situation, wealth does not reflect absolute happiness and is a temporary satisfaction (2). A person achieves happiness when money allows him or her to buy something that can bring joy. The less people think about whether they can afford a particular thing, the more they focus on more important aspects of life, such as health or family. Therefore, despite the opportunities that a large income opens up, money is valued lower than emotions and experiences.
Conclusion
Ultimately, to summarize the above, one can note that money is a tool that allows buying things that make a person happy, but money itself does not bring happiness. People value positive emotions more than the continuous pursuit of profit. In addition, not being able to spend the accumulated funds, people do not differ from those who do not have these funds. Therefore, money is a means rather than a result of achieving happiness.