Correlation of Money and Happiness "Wealth is the ability to truly experience life."(Thoreau, Henry) Thoreau touches on the reason why everyone strives to attain wealth with this short quote. The ability to live a life free from financial struggles gives a person the ability to stretch their imagination with the endless experiences that they can obtain. This is essentially the reason that people further their education, strive for their next pay raise, and work tirelessly to obtain a larger number in their bank account. Everyone has a dream of being wealthy, or at the least acquire enough money to live hassle free, but the age-old quote of “money can’t buy happiness” may hold some truth in it. With millions of students investing thousands
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Even if money does not buy happiness, no one would choose to pass up wealth for the ability to be poor. There are clear disadvantages however, and many of them are associated with the children of wealthy parents. Amy Novotney interviewed many rich parents, and found “They mentioned very specific concerns, such as the way their children would be treated by others and stereotyped as rich kids or trust fund babies, they wondered if their children would know if people really loved them or their money” (Novotney). Many everyday people tend to look down upon kids that will have their lives provided for without ever having to work for anything. This is due to the fact that humans are jealous in nature, and when there is a person who doesn’t have to experience the struggles of making a living, it is inevitable that they will receive malicious …show more content…
Other uses of money
With the advantages, and disadvantages associated with money now clear, it leads to the question “are there other ways to spend money that promote happiness?”. The short answer is yes. There has been a lot of research done to see if there are other uses for your money to promote happiness, and one aspect is clear throughout all articles. Doing makes us happier than having.
Sarah Gervais elaborates on this and says “Most people assume that ‘things’ will lead to more happiness than ‘experiences’... Buying things does make us happy, at least in the short term. In the long-term, however… The happiness that comes from purchasing experiences, however, tends to increase over time” (Gervais). This excerpt not only reinforces the claim that we grow tired of materialistic items, but it expands on the fact that experiences lead to a longer, and more fulfilling happiness. This idea of spending money on experiences rather than simply things, could be the overwhelming factor in the controversy of money and happiness. Tying back in to one of the largest advantages of being wealthy, being able to spend money on leisure time for enjoyment, if money would be solely spent on having experiences with loved ones, happiness could be improved
Even if money does not buy happiness, no one would choose to pass up wealth for the ability to be poor. There are clear disadvantages however, and many of them are associated with the children of wealthy parents. Amy Novotney interviewed many rich parents, and found “They mentioned very specific concerns, such as the way their children would be treated by others and stereotyped as rich kids or trust fund babies, they wondered if their children would know if people really loved them or their money” (Novotney). Many everyday people tend to look down upon kids that will have their lives provided for without ever having to work for anything. This is due to the fact that humans are jealous in nature, and when there is a person who doesn’t have to experience the struggles of making a living, it is inevitable that they will receive malicious …show more content…
Other uses of money
With the advantages, and disadvantages associated with money now clear, it leads to the question “are there other ways to spend money that promote happiness?”. The short answer is yes. There has been a lot of research done to see if there are other uses for your money to promote happiness, and one aspect is clear throughout all articles. Doing makes us happier than having.
Sarah Gervais elaborates on this and says “Most people assume that ‘things’ will lead to more happiness than ‘experiences’... Buying things does make us happy, at least in the short term. In the long-term, however… The happiness that comes from purchasing experiences, however, tends to increase over time” (Gervais). This excerpt not only reinforces the claim that we grow tired of materialistic items, but it expands on the fact that experiences lead to a longer, and more fulfilling happiness. This idea of spending money on experiences rather than simply things, could be the overwhelming factor in the controversy of money and happiness. Tying back in to one of the largest advantages of being wealthy, being able to spend money on leisure time for enjoyment, if money would be solely spent on having experiences with loved ones, happiness could be improved