Happiness and the Almighty Dollar

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annual income increases up to about $75,000, but not further above that. People at significantly

lower income levels feel more acutely the emotional pain associated with divorce, poor health,

loneliness and other problems, the researchers wrote, so boosting one’s income up to around

$75,000 can help” (Wiles). It confirms that a low income family earning nearly half of that

$75,000 will have a lesser happiness level and more likely to work a lot more harder in their life

pursuing a level of monetary target to reach in order to get happier in their life. Wiles also said that “​Another satisfying type of spending is of a direct philanthropic nature, such as making donations to charities. Also, permanent happiness can come from spending money on things that

enhance a person’s skills or development” (Wiles). He characterizes the value of money in this

statement as a tool to satisfy one’s pursuit of happiness and also a developmental tool of a person

that seeks more value in one’s self. In total, he values the essence of money in connection to

one’s pursuit of happiness by reaching a certain monetary level and as a tool to help on boosting

morale. Social experiments prove that money can assist people in any way they want. In giving

or donating to charities, up to buying personal things that could attain a certain level of

happiness. In the end it is our choice in how we spend money on goods that makes us happy.

Additionally, gadgets and electronic devices are some people’s source of happiness and

they need money to buy these material things that they are pursuing. On the other half, some

people enjoys the experience of having a very good vacation time but it is impossible to achieve without the help of money. ​According to Andrew Blackman, columnist at ​Wall Street Journal

​ , wrote in his article “Can Money Buy You Happiness?”,that happiness can be interpreted into

two types; evaluative and effective. He also explain the differences of the two, He states that

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“Those in the field divide happiness into two components, and you need to have both parts

working together to be truly happy. But only one of those components keeps improving the more

you earn. The other tops out after a certain point. ” (Blackman). He explains that happiness is

what we think in our current status in life while the other is what we attain over our experiences.

He states that “‘evaluative.’ Prof. Lyubomirsky defines it as “a sense that your life is

good—you’re satisfied with your life, you’re progressing towards your life goals.’’ and “The

other component of happiness—’affective’—looks at how often you experience positive

emotions like joy, affection and tranquility, as opposed to negative ones, explains Prof.

Lyubomirsky” (Blackman). This statement clearly emphasizes the difference between evaluative

and affective type of happiness according to Blackman. The passage also suggest that

satisfaction in life also brings happiness to an extent. Happiness in satisfaction in life explains

that one should have a worry free life; things like paying your bills up to date, having a shelter

and providing oneself his or her basic life necessities. This all attainable in the help of peoples

salary or their income. For without income or any other source of financial capability, we cannot

have any satisfaction in our life.

Through the help of money, happiness is an achievable goal and can be accomplished by anyone who seeks its support. ​According to Jean Chatzky, a ​financial editor for NBC’s TODAY show​, in her article “​Can Money Buy Happiness?​”, happiness can be pursued by self and it can also be assisted by financial support. She states that “​What we do know is that how you use your money can have a dramatic impact on your happiness’’(Chatzky)​. She describes that it depends how we use our money to provide our source of happiness the matter is that money is a helping

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tool for us to achieve a moment of happiness, She also states that “​The problem is the way we usually spend money doesn’t pay off for our happiness, but there are ways we can shift our spending to make us happier”(Chatzky)​. She explains that money may not be the main source of our happiness but if we spend it on right things on the right time, it somehow covers it all. She

also emphasize that through the wrongfully way we spend our money is the problem why

sometimes happiness is being converted into spending. It is our daily mission on how we spend

our money in the right way towards our path to happiness.

The place you live in and it’s economy greatly impacted the source of your happiness said the co- founder of Planet Money and a writer from The ​New York Times

​ Magazine, Adam Davidson. Davidson states in his writing from the article “​Money Changes Everything,” that the place you currently live contributes a lot from your sense of happiness for example, rich

countries tends to have a higher value of happiness than those people who live in much poorer

countries. He states that

“Happiness quantification sounds a bit wishy-washy, sure,