You’ve no doubt heard the saying “money doesn’t buy happiness”. It’s very likely you heard it from your parents. Even more likely, the person who shared that message with you was probably poor or struggling financially in life. The problem with that message is it’s not true. Let’s look at the latest research data:
- 82% of the wealthy are happy. 98% of the poor are unhappy
- 87% of the wealthy are happy in their marriage. 53% of the poor are unhappy
- 92% of the wealthy are happy because they are healthy. 22% of the poor are unhappy because of health issues
- 95% of the wealthy are happy because their children are doing well in life. 24% of the poor are unhappy because their children are not doing well in life
- 94% of the wealthy are happy because they like what they do for a living. 85% of the poor are unhappy because they do not like what they do for a living
- 0% of the wealthy are unhappy due to finances vs. 98% for the poor
When you study these statistics you realize wealth affects so many aspects of your life. It creates unhappiness overall, unhappiness in your marriage, causes health issues and affects your children. Looking at the flip side of this, wealth creates an overall sense of happiness. 87% of the wealthy are happy in their marriages. Wealthy people are also clearly healthier and thus happier. Their children are doing well in life and that makes them happy.
So when someone says “money does not buy happiness”, they’re wrong. Your level of wealth determines your level of happiness. Wealth and poverty have a domino affect on all aspects of your life. If you improve your financial condition in life you increase happiness in all aspects of your life.
Let’s take a look at just one of those domino affects caused by poverty – poverty causes marital problems. Various studies identify money problems as the leading cause of divorce in our country. Researchers at Kansas State University surveyed 4,500 couples. They found fights about money are the biggest contributors to divorce. The Huffington Post even ran a piece on the correlation between poverty and divorce not too long ago. When it comes to marriage, money does buy marital bliss.
If you want to end your unhappiness in life you have to end your poverty. In my research I identified three strategies the wealthy used to accumulate their wealth:
- Live Below Your Means – In my research 94% of the wealthy stated they were wealthy because one of the Rich Habits they learned from their parents was the 80:20 Rule. They were taught to set aside 20% of their net pay which forces them to live off the remaining 80%.
- Expand Your Means – Jay Leno famously said that he always had two jobs in life. He spent the earnings from the first job and saved the earnings from the second job. Expanding your means can be accomplished by taking on a second job, starting a side business, creating something that has value to others, taking risk to start or grow your business or taking risk and investing your savings in some way. I have many wealthy clients who started out with one rental property and expanded to many rental properties during their lifetime.
- Do Both – Living below your means and expanding your means is what the wealthiest of the wealthy do.
About Thomas C. Corley
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