Does Money Ever Buy Happiness?

It might be true that money can't buy happiness, but recent data suggests that it might help you get there. Psychologists from two universities examined Gallup World Poll data from people all over the world and determined that you are most likely to experience emotional well-being if you earn between $60,000 and $75,000 USD a year. Anything more than that and you are more likely to grow disappointed. The study defined emotional well-being as how a person feels on a typical day. The authors, who noted that the results are for an individual, not a family, also found that people tended to believe they were doing their best when they made $95,000 USD a year, noting that the higher number had to do with "life satisfaction" rather than day-to-day happiness. The study authors surmised that when you start making more money, you tend to want even more, which translates to a sense of not having what you want. The study involved 1.7 million people across 164 countries.

Show me the money:

• The U.S. Mint loses money for every penny it issues, as it costs around 1.5 cents to make each penny.
• As of 2018, the three wealthiest Americans had more money than half of the rest of America.
• The largest bill ever printed in the United States was the $100,000 USD gold certificate, which was only issued in 1934 and 1935.