to think money and happiness are linked?

[Explored]

At least a bit.

I don't think winning the lottery in itself would make anyone properly happy but I can't see how it's possible to be happy if you're worrying about how to keep a roof over your head or where food will come from at the end of the week. We were poor but we were happy must really depend on just how poor you were, mustn't it?

My Grandad, who grew up very poor and became quite well off used to say "Money can't buy you happiness but it makes being miserable a damn sight more comfortable"

I do agree but at the same time, no matter how much money I had, it wouldn't make any difference to the fact I'm lonely and have no friends.

There have been studies done on this. There is an actual point of earning which provides the maximum level of happiness (and from memory it was fairly average!?). Earning much more or much less than this amount had a negative impact on general happiness.

Although it won't buy love, it certainly smoothes the rough edges of life.

I remember reading somewhere (sorry, at work, so can't go hunting for the link) that the biggest predictor of how happy people were, two years after a significant lottery win, was how happy they'd been prior to winning the lottery. Everyone had had a temporary boost in their happiness levels upon first winning the money, but, for people who tended to be miserable/grumpy/curmudgeonly prior to the win, this wore off again.

In other words, gaining large amounts of money doesn't increase happiness, unless you are a positive, or at least fairly level-headed, person to start with.

YANBU but lots of good comments on this thread. Money gives you freedom to choose how to live your life but it won't change your basic disposition or attitude to gratitude. Where it can really help is with healthcare. I was able to get treatment for a potentially life changing illness at the earliest stage because we could afford private treatment. It haunts me that poorer people can't do that and would be left permanently impaired because of NHS waiting times.

You cannot buy happiness. But you can rent it for 80+ years.