Exactly How to Spend Your Money to Maximize Happiness, According to the Latest Science
Can money buy happiness? Science has been puzzling over this question for decades and is still far from a complete, uncontroversial answer. What is clear from a huge number of dueling studies is that the relationship between income and happiness is complicated.
Both common sense and research tell us that when you’re struggling financially, making more money leads to big boosts in happiness. The endless stress of poverty is, by all accounts, misery inducing (and it messes with your functional intelligence). But if you’re comfortable — previous research suggested above a threshold of $75,000 a year in income — more money seems to help only some people and some measures of happiness.
All of which makes for fascinating science. But practically, where does that leave the average entrepreneur who wants to wring as much joy as possible out of every hard-earned dollar? While the science of whether earning more will make you happier may be in flux, recent research does offer simple guidance on how best to spend the money you do have to maximize your well-being.
Is it experiences, or stuff?
The most common answer to the question of how to spend your money for the most happiness is to focus on experiences rather…
