When I was much younger, the Beatles came out with two songs around the same time, and we used to joke about having them together on the same single 45 record.:
Can’t buy me love…
Give me money, that’s what I want.
I guess most of us have ambivalent thoughts about money. There is evidence that money — over a certain threshold — does not substantially increase happiness. That raises three interesting questions:
1. What is the threshold? There is one threshold that represents having enough at the moment to eat, drink, be sheltered and clothed. There is another threshold that represents a certain security that one will have enough for the duration, including certain life goals such as educating one’s children. This is a stretchy threshold. It changes as the stock market goes up and down. It also goes up for people with particular talent for finding things to worry about. There is yet another threshold that represents a certain independence from any particular job. With enough money, one has a certain confidence that he/she can always leave the current job if it gets worse.
2. Why is it that we tend to equate more money with more happiness? I remember seeing a $12,000 rocking horse in a Niemann and Marcus catalog, and the thought that crossed my brain was, “Well, there has to be something for people like Bill Gates to spend their money on.” But it’s still a rocking horse and can give just a rocking horse’s worth of pleasure.
3. Is there a point where happiness goes down when money goes up? Do people lose something by becoming too rich? They certainly lose privacy. Perhaps life becomes a little less safe. There’s probably some research out there on this.
