Money is the cheapest thing

Screenshot from website for the film Bill Cunningham New York, a documentary by Richard Press

“You see, if you don’t take money they can’t tell you what to do. That’s the key to the whole thing, don’t touch money! It’s the worst thing you can do. Money is the cheapest thing. Liberty is the most expensive.”

—Superstar NY Times Street Fashion Photographer Bill Cunningham explaining why he didn’t accept payment for the 100 page spreads of photographs he shot for the original Details magazine in the late 80’s.

You bought it. Are you happy? Money can make you happier – to a point – but not in the way you think.

By Husna Haq, Correspondent / December 20, 2010
(Originally published in the Christian Science Monitor)

By the time the last shred of wrapping paper is recycled and the final crumb of fruitcake devoured, Americans will have spent 12.9 billion hours and $447 billion shopping, wrapping, and returning gifts this holiday season. That's about 42 hours and $688.87 per person, according to Consumer Reports and the National Retail Federation, respectively. At the end of it all, Americans will have a lot more stuff – but will it make us happier?

It's a perennial question: Can money make us happy?

Generations of Americans were raised to believe it couldn't. The nation's Puritan roots bequeathed a philosophy of frugality upon its people. Henry David Thoreau, the Amish, and the Shakers all pursued austere lives. "Money doesn't buy happiness," our mothers taught us.

But contrary to kitchen table wisdom, research suggests it can – though not in the ways we traditionally think. And it could change the way Americans spend money and buy gifts.

"If you think money can't buy happiness, you just don't know where to go shopping," says Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and author of "Predictably Irrational." "Most people just don't know how to use money to buy happiness."

Money, and to a lesser degree, stuff, can make us happy if it promotes the experiences that make us happy, like personal growth and social connectedness, says Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside. "Money can buy happiness if you spend it right."

Here's how spending can maximize happiness:

Maximizer No. 1: "Spend on experiences, not possessions," says Professor Lyubomirsky. Research shows that spending money on experiences like a dinner out, travel, or a massage make people happier than "stuff" like a TV or a handbag. There's an initial thrill to owning something, then we adapt and want more, says Lyubomirsky. "In contrast, we're much less likely to adapt to experiences. And we're much less likely to compare to others – we might compare a car with our neighbor's, not so much with vacations."

Maximizer No. 2: Spend on personal growth and social connections. French lessons, for example, give people a sense of growth and accomplishment, an experience key to human happiness. And they may help us build friendships and social networks, another key to well-being. The same goes for a gym membership, salsa lessons, or joining a professional society. "When you buy an experience – like climbing a mountain, sailing the ocean, or achieving a goal – those experiences give people an amazing amount of happiness," says Professor Ariely.

Maximizer No. 3: Spread it out. For example, research shows people tend to get more happiness from several small vacations (say, three regional road trips) rather than one big one (a two-week Caribbean cruise) because variety ensures we won't adapt and get bored by Day 9 of the cruise. Also, anticipation and recall of an experience or purchase – think planning and mapping out a road trip, then reliving it through photos and stories – can be more positive than the experience itself.

Maximizer No. 4: Give your money away. "When you give money away, you become happier," says Ariely. "There's something incredibly satisfying about helping others that makes you happy." Lyubomirsky conducted a study in which students were asked to do five acts of charity or kindness a week for six weeks. By Week 6, the students reported a significant rise in happiness. Giving time or money, and more important, getting involved in an outreach activity, gives people a sense of purpose as well as fostering interdependence and cooperation – all major happiness boosters. It's worked for Bill Gates, says Ariely. "He's never seemed more happy, eloquent, charming, and relaxed as when he stopped working at Microsoft and started philanthropy."

But if some money is good, more money isn't necessarily better. A new study by Princeton economist Angus Deaton and psychologist Daniel Kahneman put a figure on happiness: $75,000 per year. As people earn more, their day-to-day happiness rises until they hit $75,000, after which, more money has no measurable impact on daily contentment.

But for those struggling with money, more money equals happiness. "It's very stressful to always be thinking about every last nickel," says Gretchen Rubin, author of "The Happiness Project." "One of the greatest luxuries that money buys is not having to worry about money."

Happiness can be a taco with all the fixings

"After all, if your loved ones are OK, the bills are paid and a couple of monster tacos aren't going to break the bank, how much more do you really need?

I know. The guacamole."

New York City:
I came across this editorial on the recent Princeton study and I thought I'd share it with my readers. It reflects a certain philosophy that a lot of us American-Latinos and Latin Americans understand and live by on a daily basis.

There is a wonderful saying in Spanish that I love to use whenever toasting, usually for no better reason than to acknowledge the happiness one experiences when simply being at a "happy hour" with friends:

¡Al salud, amor y dinero, y el tiempo para disfrutar los todos!
To our health, love and money, and time to enjoy them all.

I think it is worth noting that "to money" here does not mean "a lot of money" or winning the lottery, it simply means, as Ms. Anglin points out, is "just enough money" to live responsibly by and to enjoy life often, which in essence is not much money at all, if you do it right.

Happiness can be a taco with all the fixings
by Maria Anglin
(Originally posted to mysanantonio.com on September 9, 2010)

To all of those people who love to repeat the dicho about how money can't buy happiness, a new study has come along saying "Fijate que si."

Well, sort of.

On Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle reported on a study that found people's emotional well being, or happiness, increases with their income up until they hit $75,000 a year. After that, the researchers reported, the level of happiness stays about the same.

People making less than that, a Princeton economist told the Chronicle, face too much “stuff” that interferes with their day-to-day happiness. Presumably, the economist was talking about facing cost of living expenses and decisions that could lead to more bills, although he might also have been talking about all the “stuff” que compra el vecino with really bad credit. It's hard not to be a little envidioso of El You-Only-Live-Once and his new iPad, his week-long trip to Curacao and the new and loaded hemi, unless you're with him on Saturday morning when he's frantically figuring out which bill to pay and which one to leave in the shoebox hasta que caiga el proximo paycheck.

But for those who count their coins responsibly, it makes perfect sense that a little more scratch makes life easier. Anybody who has ever had to make the difficult choice between the beef fajita monster taco con guacamole y un taco flaco de picadillo con papas knows that this is true. For those who don't understand the happiness a good taco can bring, here's another example — a full tank of gas vs. as much gas as you can afford with the few bucks left over after the trip to the Dollar Only, plus the quarters that were hiding under the napkins in the car's console. It's safe to bet the study's findings also have something to do with the happy people surveyed also having a good memory; nickeleando is a tough lesson and one not easily forgotten.

Those who quote the song “Pobrecito mi patron, cree que el pobre soy yo,” are likely hovering around that $75,000 mark, which is probably lower in places like San Antonio that are blessed with a lower cost of living than other big cities. While money can buy us a lot of freedom and peace of mind, it can also attract big problems along with all manner of sinverguenzas, ratas and pediches — which is why those who know this actively avoid buying lottery tickets with huge jackpots.

After all, if your loved ones are OK, the bills are paid and a couple of monster tacos aren't going to break the bank, how much more do you really need?

I know. The guacamole.

—mariaanglin@yahoo.com

After $75,000, Money Can't Buy Day-to-Day Happiness

"What other studies have also shown is that money matters up to a point. But after a certain point, having additional money doesn't make people like their lives better or feel better about themselves on a day to day basis."

This holds true in other countries around the world as well... Once per capita GDP rises to a point in which people are no longer struggling to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and healthcare, additional increases in overall national wealth don't seem to make much of a difference in happiness..."

After $75,000, Money Can't Buy Day-to-Day Happiness
But the more people make, the better they feel about their lives overall, study found

By Jenifer Goodwin, Bloomberg Businessweek


MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Money can help buy happiness -- at least if you're bringing in about $75,000 a year, new research shows.

While happiness increases along with annual household incomes up to about $75,000, beyond that, earning more money has no effect on day-to-day contentment, according to the study.

But that doesn't mean you should give up trying to get that promotion. While making more won't help your emotional state on any given day, people who had household incomes above $75,000 were more apt to say they were satisfied overall with their life.

Those who made, say, $120,000 reported more satisfaction with their lives and had a higher assessment of their life overall than those who made less, while those who made $160,000 evaluated their lives even better still.

"It's really important to recognize that the word 'happiness' covers a lot of ground," said study author Angus Deaton, a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University. "There is your overall evaluation of how your life is going, while the other has to do more with emotional well-being at the moment. Higher incomes don't seem to have any effect on well-being after around $75,000, whereas your evaluation of your life keeps going up along with income."

The study is in the Sept. 6 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers used data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which surveyed 450,000 Americans in 2008 and 2009 about their household income, emotional state during the prior day and overall feelings about their life and well-being.

Both measures of happiness are getting at something different, Deaton noted. You might be feeling blue or unhappy one day because your boss hassled you or you got a speeding ticket, but overall, you think life is going pretty well.

Conversely, you might have felt happy, even joyful, on an outing with your friends and family, but are overall not satisfied with your life or the direction it's going.

So which measure of happiness matters more?

That's a philosophical question and perhaps one only the individual can answer, Deaton said. "That's a really deep, hard question. [Both measures] are important. But if you're unhappy now, the fact your life may be going well doesn't make up for that."

Social scientists and psychologists have long grappled with how to measure happiness, said James Maddux, a psychology professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., who was not involved with the study.

The new study does a good job teasing apart the different aspects of emotional well-being, including more immediate emotions vs. bigger-picture life evaluations, Maddux said.

"This study is consistent with a lot of other studies on the relationship between income and happiness or overall life satisfaction," Maddux said. "What other studies have also shown is that money matters up to a point. But after a certain point, having additional money doesn't make people like their lives better or feel better about themselves on a day to day basis."

This holds true in other countries around the world as well, he noted. Once per capita GDP rises to a point in which people are no longer struggling to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and healthcare, additional increases in overall national wealth don't seem to make much of a difference in happiness, Maddux said.

Maddux urged America's beleaguered workers not to get too hung up on the $75,000 figure. That income level can mean very different things depending on how many people are in the family, what sorts of financial responsibilities you have and where you live, he said.

"$75,000 is not a magical figure people need to achieve to be at their happiest," Maddux said. "The point is there is a threshold at which people probably are not going to be substantially happier if they keep making more money."

In 2008, average U.S household income was about $71,500, while the median -- or the point at which half of incomes are higher and half are lower -- was $52,000. The average skews higher than the median because of a few very high incomes, Deaton explained.

While people with household incomes of more than $75,000 probably won't feel an enduring happiness boost if they are able to earn more, losing substantial income would likely not be good for their emotional well being, the study suggested. As income dropped, respondents reported declining happiness and increased sadness and stress.

And,according to the study, poverty exacerbated the emotional impact of negative life events such as illness and divorce. Nor did the poor get as much of a happiness boost from weekends as those who were better-off, according to the researchers.

"Life is unfair for the poor in all sort of dimensions," Deaton said.

Happiness is Giving (not getting)

Can Money Make You Happy?
Money may not buy love, but it can buy happiness…

(As Published in Scientific American, March 21, 2008, by Larry Greenemeier)

The catch is: you have to spend it on someone else. Researchers at the University of British Columbia (U.B.C.) and Harvard Business School report in Science that people who lavish gifts on others and give to charity are happier than their peers. As part of the study, U.B.C. psychologists gave volunteers a wad of cash to spend; half of them were told to splurge on themselves and the other half to spend it on others. The givers rated themselves as being happier, on average, than the self-spenders. The findings mesh with those of a Harvard B-school survey of 16 people who were asked to measure their happiness before and after receiving cash bonuses. Those who spent more of their loot on others rated themselves as happier than their co-workers who had failed to spread the wealth. "These findings suggest that very minor alterations in spending allocations, as little as $5," says study author and U.B.C. psychologist Elizabeth Dunn, "may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day." (Boston Globe, The New York Times' Tierney Lab)