Money can’t buy happiness. But it can buy peace of mind. Joe Rogan once said in a podcast, the advantage of having money is you don’t have to worry about shit. Like, someone dents your car and you are like “oh well, guess I have to take it to the shop and get it fixed”. Of course, some people will get mad when they see their car is dented but Joe Rogan is kind of a very calm dude in general and really open minded and relaxed.
Having enough $$$ to insulate you from things is a very big benefit in life. Of course, some people have a lot of $$$ but just get more expensive cars and more expensive houses. Part of the deal I guess is managing your money to suit your circumstances or lifestyle.
Money can’t buy happiness. But it can buy peace of mind. Peace of mind is worth A LOT.
As with so many things, happiness is the excess of actuality over expectations.
If you have more money than you think you “need”, the excess buys peace of mind. If somebody else with the same money has less than they think they “need”, they have anxiety & problems. Many of which are caused by their lack of money.
If you have a happier family situation than you expected, the excess brings contentment and joy. If you have a messier family situation than you expected, the shortfall adds extra anxiety and problems.
If you have a more satisfying job or education than you expected the excess brings contentment and fulfillment. If you have a less satisfying job or education than you expected the shortfall adds anxiety and problems.
The obvious life lesson is that when reality isn’t meeting your expectations you can either improve your reality, lower your expectations, or be miserable. Any of those three are valid options. Many people understand 1 and 3 but can’t wrap their heads around 2. It’s a pretty Zen idea.
Well having reasonable expectations is part of it. My car is 12 years old. I have a cheap apartment in the blue collar part of town. My vacations are in the next state or 2 states over at the Motel 6. I take a Paris/Bangcock type of vacation maybe once a decade. But for my lifestyle choices and circumstances, I have a very secure income and more than enough $$$ to do all of the basic things I want to do. And I feel very very fortunate for that.
Peace of mind - is a state of mind. The state of your mind is only determined by material concerns if you allow it to be. You don’t have to allow yourself to be disturbed by transitory dents in ultimately impermanent cars. No amount of money will ever insulate a person from all trials or cares. Death of loved ones, ill health, sinkholes - money can’t protect you from everything. There’s tragedy in everyone’s life. The state of your mind in those times will not be determined by your bank account.
Yes, but, I think you are underestimating the value of $$$ to help with daily trivial things. If I want triple play with HBO and all the movie channels and sports channels, I can get it. That’s a nice thing to be able to do and not to worry about.
If I get HBO that month, and, take a jujitsu class, I may have to cut back on eating out everyday or, that is the reason why I don’t have a smart phone, only a flip cellphone. I can’t afford “everything” I want but I have plenty of $$$ enough to keep me satisfied. Having a little padding there, in the financial sense, is a big benefit, at least to me.
And, I realize, it can’t/won’t prevent tragedies. But I’m not talking about the events that happen once a year or once every 5 years, I’m talking about weekly or daily events.
In some ways it’s true, and in others it isn’t. I think there’s a “minimum income” cutoff point; making more than that significantly improves your quality of life and happiness. It’s the difference between laying awake all night debating sacrificing the electric bill, groceries, or getting that nasty cough checked out, vs being able to brush off a car dent. There’s no significant rise in happiness between being a millionaire or a billionaire, but not always being on the edge of financial ruin is really nice.
There’s been a few studies on this and the general consensus is that up to a point (which varies based on the cost of living of a particular area), money definitely buys happiness, in the sense that it buys an absence of stress and enjoyable experiences. Above that, more money doesn’t buy more happiness.
Sure, material compncerns like shelter, heat, food… Many if not most people do not have enough money that something like emergency furnace repair or a bad plumbing problem will cause severe problems and call for great sacrifices. If you are the head of the household and have the well being of others in your hands that will cause stress and unhappiness. It’s not a matter of being tied to material things. It’s about not being worried about taking care of your family. Some people may be so enlightened that sitting in a freezing house in the winter or having shit bubble up through the toilet will do nothing to break through their contentment. I’m not one of those people. I would be much happier if I didn’t have to worry if I could afford life’s emergencies. Or if I could afford to send my kids to college.
Nonsense. Sure, money can’t protect you from every problem in life but a lack of money can definitely be a real problem. Try going up to a homeless person and telling them that their problems are all due to their state of mind and they should put aside their material concerns about living indoors.
