Too Happy to be Rich?

By Brian French
Posted Friday, May 23, 2008

I just got done reading an interesting article in Money magazine which compared the amount of happiness one felt with their financial status and spending habits. Based on a study done by World Values Survey which measured the happiness of their respondents on a scale of 1- 10 with 10 being the happiest, they found that income did indeed increase as ones happiness increased, except at the top level. What they found was, that people who earned a 10 on the happiness scale earned significantly less than the people who scored in the 8's or 9's. Additionally the lower scoring people people typically saved more money and typically had college degrees. The author of the study concluded that it was better to behappy than euphoric. Thehappypeople seemed to be strivers, save more money and work harder verses the euphoric individuals who seemed to over spend, day trade more and have higher debt because of their eternal optimism that things would be okay. Needless to say, this article was quite enlightening and interesting. As a side note, the article daysay that the 10's would be better volunteers, dating partners and good at maintaining close friendships. So now the question becomes, are you just happy, or really really happy? I think I can settle for just being happy and work on being a betterfriend. It seems less stressful.