Does money buy happiness?

George Mack

Does money buy happiness?

Here's my take:

Answer: It's a stupid question.

The correct answer is to question the question.

"Does money buy happiness?" is a broken question because it presupposes happiness and money isn't a skill.

Here's an example:

You spend 90% of your salary to move into a beautiful apartment in the heart of New York City...

But your next door neighbour is P Diddy and he is throwing loud drug fuelled orgy parties so you can't sleep at night.

In this scenario, money bought misery.

You then spend $10 getting some ear plugs that block out the deafening noise - enabling you to get a perfect night sleep.

In this scenario, money bought happiness -- at a fraction of the price of the money that caused you misery.

Here's the correct answer to the stupid question:

Strategic money can buy happiness. Unstrategic money can buy misery.

Money is fungible. Individual investment and happiness decisions are non-fungible.

If someone asks you: "Does money buy happiness?"

Reply with: "Does money buy good investments?"

It depends!

Spending money is a skill. Hapiness is a skill.

Before you can answer the question of whether money buys happiness, you need to gauge the individuals money and happiness skills.

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Table of contents

Does money buy happiness?

Here's my take:

Answer: It's a stupid question.

The correct answer is to question the question.

"Does money buy happiness?" is a broken question because it presupposes happiness and money isn't a skill.

Here's an example:

You spend 90% of your salary to move into a beautiful apartment in the heart of New York City...

But your next door neighbour is P Diddy and he is throwing loud drug fuelled orgy parties so you can't sleep at night.

In this scenario, money bought misery.

You then spend $10 getting some ear plugs that block out the deafening noise - enabling you to get a perfect night sleep.

In this scenario, money bought happiness -- at a fraction of the price of the money that caused you misery.

Here's the correct answer to the stupid question:

Strategic money can buy happiness. Unstrategic money can buy misery.

Money is fungible. Individual investment and happiness decisions are non-fungible.

If someone asks you: "Does money buy happiness?"

Reply with: "Does money buy good investments?"

It depends!

Spending money is a skill. Hapiness is a skill.

Before you can answer the question of whether money buys happiness, you need to gauge the individuals money and happiness skills.

-----

If you enjoyed this, it's from my newsletter.

Get all my best ideas when you sign up. Link below.

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