Originally Posted by Lasereth

I think the wealth to happiness chart is a bell curve. There is a point when not having enough money makes you unhappy. Then happiness rises sharply as you gain wealth but eventually caps (not as high as you'd expect either). Then it starts going down. I read an essay in college about extremely wealthy people being absolutely dependent on society for protection. All of your wealth is constantly on the line and has to be protected by society so you're very dependent and stressed for the safety of your money.

I think the cap is when you can pay your bills every month, have zero debt (a mortgage may or may not count) and can pay for an emergency if it happens. Plus if you want to have a hobby you can spend something every month and be ok.

If you don't have enough money for something, you lust after it and desire it to an extreme degree. It is almost satisfying wanting something that you can't afford so when you finally get it you know you worked hard for it. On the opposite side, if you all of a sudden became a millionaire, you quite literally never want anything because you already have it. There is nothing to look forward to. You can't look forward to your next car because you already have it. Can't look forward to your next house because your current house is massive. You have everything in life and life's entertainment and satisfactory urge towards a goal are gone. I imagine it would be quite bland if you could never look forward to the day you got to have that big goal.

A coworker said that if his mortgage was paid off he would have $1,000 leftover at the end of each month and that would allow him to live like a millionaire. I believe him...and I also believe that is dangerously close to the wealth to happiness cap I mentioned.

So my concrete statement is rich enough to not have debt but not rich enough to have everything you wanted. That is happiness -- a worry free, but goal-based approach in life. How satisfying can life be if there is nothing to work towards?