To think people who say “money doesn’t buy happiness” have never had real money?

I always preferred the version “money doesn’t guarantee happiness, but lack of money guarantees unhappiness.”

Money would definitely buy my happiness! Mainly because I am already happy with my lot, but money would just make things feel easier, more secure and of course there would be less worry. Perhaps money doesn’t buy happiness for those that have always had it? But I think that if you’re ’new money’ it would definitely make you less miserable, at the very least! It wouldn’t alleviate things like isolation and loneliness though, two of the hardest things to live with

I do agree with you @EdgyRobin, but more importantly, I'd say that people who say money doesn't buy happiness have never been really poor.

I think the misery and anxiety that goes along with not being able to afford even the basics, the dread of an unexpected bill and the constant looming threat of homelessness or not being able to feed your children as a very real possibility will make you so much more unhappy than having "real" money will make someone happy.

Let me guess, you have a fairly comfortable lifestyle at the very least?

I can imaging becoming very rich very quickly could lead to real misery. Giving up a job, moving to a new area, potentially losing friends and relationships but struggling to find a place in a new community.

Happiness is probably harder to achieve in poverty though, because of poor health and the sheer exhaustion of having to juggle everything to get by.

Even if money doesn't always buy happiness, it can be a lot easier to cope with misery if you are rich, imo.

I agree.

I’ve never been truly poor but for much of my 20s and early 30s I earned less than £25k. 15 years later I earn about 4-5 times that amount; not rich but clearly very good income and comfortable.

I was generally happy when I earned less but earning substantially more has removed a lot of sources of anxiety. It meant I could buy a permanent home, meaning I’m settled and not reliant on the uncertainty of the private rental sector. I don’t worry about bills at all, they just get paid. If the boiler breaks down, I can afford to get it fixed immediately. DD went to a good nursery, not just the one we could afford. I don’t have to think about whether I can afford most day to day things, I just buy them. I have a private dentist and access to some private healthcare.

Am I always happy? Not always, but I’m much more innately content and settled, and many of life’s anxieties have been taken away.

I should add, that as I get older, good health is definitely the main consideration. I’m already starting to take steps to ensure
I'm as physically fit and well when I retire in two decades. That’s much more important than income alone.

Money didn't make me happy, it caused my unhappiness, however it does enable you to be miserable in comfort.

Beyond a certain level, no, money does not buy happiness. I’d venture also when you get older, time is more important than money. So is good health…without health, you are nothing.

Idle wealth with no purpose sounds dreadful.

I have some neighbours who are money and status obsessed…they are working all hours to afford a large house and are always looking at more property investments, having the “right” friends, the “right” car. It seems like most of what they do is motivated by making more money…the wife even described her family as a brand. I mean, ambition and wanting to do better is fine, but I’m not sure it is a good idea to let that alone dictate your life. My husband and I live in a nice smaller place, just right for us and have a lot of savings and financial security, and best of all time for each other. All that striving and materialistic desire isn’t worth giving up your life for. I guess to each their own.

Hmm I don’t know. We have the big house, nice cars, holidays, lots of stuff, it’s great, we’re lucky, I’m very happy. But I look back to when me and DH were just starting out in our little one bedroom flat and getting furniture second hand and it was some of the best times of my life. I loved that flat, loved making it a home, had lots of good times and parties there! I don’t think I’m fundamentally happier now. However I’ve never been properly poor. I think if your reasonably comfortable that you can afford to live without much worry or sacrifice more money doesn’t necessarily make you happier but if your poor and every days a struggle then yes of course money will make you happier! I think it’s more true that being poor makes you unhappy, not that money makes you happy.

I can't see how money buys happiness. It will take away the misery caused by poverty, but that's a different matter entirely.

The idea that anyone who thinks that money doesn't buy happiness is "romanticising the struggle" is bullshit.

It’s the secular version of the religious bs of “blessed be the poor because the Kingdom of Heaven is yours”.

He obviously doesn’t want those things as much as the millions in the bank or they don’t bring him as much happiness. Plenty of men (and some women) use money as an excuse to simply check out of family life.

Money doesn’t make you happy per se. But it can be used to provide things that make you happy. And it gives you options which you don’t have if you have less money.

I’ve always thought it was a stupid saying.

Obviously it’s trying to say that non-material things are the key to happiness. And this is partially true. But even a wonderful life full of joy and love and satisfaction is made better with financial security.

Yeah, totally. Thank you.

Rich people still kill themselves.

Of course, a base level of security helps improve life immeasurably - decent housing, food on the table, predictable income etc. But it doesn't protect you from emotions - grief, regret, anxiety, depression, health worries, difficulties with family members etc. We all face the same issues after a certain point.

A lot of happiness comes from how you choose to live each day as well. I don't earn much (a little over 20k per year) but I am happy because I exercise regularly, I do gardening, I see my friends, I speak to family daily, I get out in the sunshine every day where I can, and I have things booked in my diary that I look forward to (none of which cost much money).

I have some friends who are wealthy who must feel pretty rough on a day to day basis based on how much alcohol forms part of their routine. I share a PT with one of them and he consistently skips his sessions. He works very long hours in a stressful job. He may have much more money than me but I'd choose my life over their's any day.

there’s probably a tipping point
There is a tipping point. Research demonstrates that wellbeing only increases to a certain point, basically when someone is financially independent and not in financial stress or poverty.

Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton find that money can buy happiness, but only up to a point. This well-known study found that emotional wellbeing rises logarithmically with income. In layman’s terms, this means that as income increases, wellbeing increases too – but at a slower and slower rate. Khaneman and Deaton’s data also suggested that once income surpasses about $75,000 per year, wellbeing stops increasing altogether. However, more recent research has shown that the log-linear relationship persists well beyond 75K for most people — though there is likely a flattening effect around 100K for the least happy people

https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/blog/can-money-buy-happiness

Money can't buy you the happiness that comes from intrinsically happy in yourself (people will be depressed, sick, have terrible things happen to them, some people are just grumpy/never content).
But for poor people you live life under a constant cloud of anxiety and stress. The worry is unbearable. Sure you have happy times, but the constant whirring of your mind trying to decide what bill you can hold off longest, how to manage food, how you can't afford to be sick, dentist, children's needs and what to prioritise, is there always. Happy events such as a wedding, birthday, night out can be hugely stressful. You're scrabbling to survive.
Remove that and the potential to have a happier life is huge.

to Have financial freedom is a huge thing

Agree with this.

I found the opposite. My very rich boss often says "money doesn't buy happiness" but I'd happily be sad on holiday 4 times a year and without the worry of whether I can afford a food shop this week than sad at home and with all those worries

I don't take it that way at all.

I have family with serious money on both sides. On one, live in a stately home, have a helicopter money, and on the other side have a title, land and trust fund money.

Yes, this means a life without struggle BUT it doesn't mean a life that guarantees things that are crucial to a happiness - eg health, fertility, a happy relationship, good friends and family around you etc.

They've both had their fair share of illness, mental health struggles, scandals etc.

Money absolutely buys them incredible homes, cars and holidays, but the things that 'warm your heart' are just as tricky for them.

Which would make me really really really happy.

IME, the people most likely to say this are those who don't know what it's like to live without financial privilege - both ready cash in the bank and assets. They haven't seen the life chances of children and adults undermined by the lack of money to meet basic needs. They've never had to choose between food and heating in the middle of winter, while living in a house without heating with a child who has bronchitis. They don't have a clue about having a child with SEN and no resources to get them the help they need.

Beyond a certain point, more money on top of an already great pile of it doesn't make you happier, healthier or more fulfilled. It makes you Smaug the dragon. But the vast majority of the world's affluent would have to be vastly wealthier than they are before they could go to sleep on piles of gold - or finance space tourism.