While money can’t technically buy happiness, it can buy many things that make our lives easier. Money buys us full stomachs, which allow our bodies to function properly and avoid feeling like we're in survival mode. Enough money allows us to nourish our bodies with fresh produce and healthy foods to keep ourselves in tip top shape and at minimal risk of health issues. Money buys us shelter and warmth, and therefore comfort. Money buys us experiences that add to our quality of life, like going out to see a movie or being able to take a vacation. Money buys us help when we need it, whether it’s a tutor so our kids can ace their SATs or therapy to keep our mental health in check. Money buys us vehicles and thus the freedom to get around. Money buys us resources.      

In 2010, a Princeton study reported that money can buy us happiness up to a point. The researchers concluded that people are happier the more money they make, until their income reaches $75,000 a year. After that, there’s no significant increase in happiness levels. The topic is a bit more complicated than that, however, because more money did appear to buy more life satisfaction.

If your first thought is that life satisfaction and happiness sound synonymous, I would have to agree. The difference is specified by the researchers in the original study noting that well-being can be broken down into two aspects: emotional well-being and life evaluation. Emotional well-being focuses on “the emotional quality of an individual’s everyday experience” while life evaluation “refers to the thoughts that people have about their life”. Happiness is about how you feel while life satisfaction is about what you think. According to the study, happiness is not likely to increase even if someone’s salary is well above $75,000 a year (also keep in mind, that amount in 2010 would be about $100,000 today), but life satisfaction can continue to increase with higher income levels.        

More recently, however, a 2021 study challenged the 2010 idea that happiness related to income reaches a cap. In fact, this study found that “there was no evidence for an experienced well-being plateau above $75,000 [a year]”, and “no evidence of an income threshold at which experienced and evaluative well-being diverged, suggesting that higher incomes are associated with both feeling better day-to-day and being more satisfied with life overall”. 

A review of this study by Giving What We Can also addresses the concern that happiness is probably also determined by what you’re spending your money on. It’s recommended to be a conscious purchaser, spending less money on material items and more money on enriching experiences. It also may be beneficial to "buy many small pleasures rather than few large ones". The review warns readers to be cognizant of how purchases affect them and to “pay close attention to the happiness of others”. If you're purchasing an expensive car because you don't like comparing your 2005 Honda Accord to you're neighbor's new BMW, you probably won't feel satisfied after your purchase. But if you splurge on a month-long trip to New Zealand experiencing a new culture and exploring the country's nature, your happiness actually might be increased.

Some particularly cold individuals use the adage “money can’t buy you happiness” as an excuse to turn a blind eye to others in need. “Why give the homeless woman at the intersection a $20 bill? It won’t buy her happiness.” Or sometimes affluent individuals perpetuate the misconception that poor people are actually happier than the wealthy because money buys you problems. But as Borgen Magazine so kindly points out, “Even the World Happiness Index ranks the high-income countries as the happiest.” As of 2016, the “happiest” countries in the world were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Finland. Meanwhile, countries at the bottom of the list included Afghanistan, Togo and Syria. While not everyone needs to live in a two-story home with a pool in the backyard, there’s no question that being able to afford basic necessities increases quality of life. 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a great example of how money contributes to our levels of happiness. While physiological needs are at the base level of the pyramid (including food, water, clothing, warmth and rest), money can actually solve most of those issues for us without a question. Rest can be a bit trickier because factors like insomnia and mental health issues can come into play. Or maybe a person’s job is inhibiting them from being able to get a proper night’s sleep, due to working overnight. But if someone needs medication to help them rest, that can be purchased. Or if a person's job isn’t allowing them time to sleep, they probably could avoid that problem if they made enough money to work less hours. Or they could take a lower-paying job with better hours, if they didn’t need to be so concerned about finances.

After physiological needs are met, we can begin to focus on security and safety. People deserve to experience “order, predictability and control in their lives”. This allows us to relax and avoid feeling constant stress. Safety needs are less about physical issues and more about emotional security, financial security, law and order, freedom from fear, social stability, health and wellbeing. Again, money can take care of many of these issues, providing us health insurance, financial stability and freedom from the fear that unexpected issues will plunge us into debt.

After our safety needs are met, we can start to think about love and belonging needs. These include social needs like acceptance, receiving and giving affection, intimacy, trust and love. At this point, money can no longer explicitly purchase any of these needs. But think about it this way: when you have enough money to enjoy free time and go out to social events, it’s much easier to make friends and build relationships. When we’re constantly working and trying to squeeze in rest, there is not much time for (or much time to even think about) satisfying social needs.   

The fourth level of needs are esteem needs, including self-worth, accomplishment and respect. Maslow broke these down into two categories: esteem for oneself and the “desire for reputation or respect from others”. The latter, Maslow noted, is particularly important for children and adolescents. Again, these cannot be bought at a specific price, but keep in mind how respected people with money often are. It is seen as a great status symbol to have a significant source of income, and a certain level of respect can be built right into someone’s job title, if they are a surgeon or a CEO for example.

Lastly, we can’t forget self-actualization needs. These refer to the realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. While pursuing these needs looks different from person to person, wealth can again be a contributing factor. If someone has an artistic passion, like painting or making music, money can buy unlimited resources to hone skills and hire proper instructors. If it’s therapy that will help someone feel fulfilled, that can be purchased too. While money cannot directly solve most of the needs on Maslow’s hierarchy, it certainly can make pursuing those needs easier.

While happiness may be too much for us to ask of money, our finances are tied to our mental well-being, according to Purdue University.  In fact, a 2020 survey found that 73% of Americans rank finances as the number one stressor in their lives. This stress can manifest in physical symptoms as well, including anxiety, headaches, compromised immune systems, digestive issues, high blood pressure, muscle tension, depression and more. “Health issues then present increased medical expenses, which worsen already tight money situations,” Amanda Hathcock, an employee assistance counselor at the Center for Healthy Living, told Purdue. “It’s important for individuals to have support to help them process this cycle of overlapping stressors so they can hopefully slow the cycle and head in a new direction that leads to some relief.”

Harvard Business School has a piece on their blog addressing how money can not only buy us things, but it can also help us avoid things, like stress. It can make it much easier to solve everyday hassles, like what to eat for dinner or how to get to a party. There’s no hesitation to call an Uber or order takeout when you’re not living paycheck to paycheck. Don’t worry about waking up early to pack a sandwich to take to work with you if you can afford to buy a $12 salad at the cafe near your office. “If we only focus on the happiness that money can bring, I think we are missing something,” says Jon Jachimowicz, an assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. “We also need to think about all of the worries that it can free us from.”

In terms of solving the issue of wealth inequality in the United States, Jachimowicz acknowledges that there’s a long road ahead of us requiring systemic change. There’s an unfair stigma around being poor, and affluent people often have no idea how privileged they are, especially if they inherited wealth. “We have normalized this idea that when you are poor, it’s your fault and so you should be ashamed of it,” Jachimowicz notes. “At the same time, we’ve structured society in a way that makes it really hard on people who are poor.” He points out how difficult everyday tasks can be for those living in poverty, from relying on inaccessible and expensive public transit to being unable to afford daycare for their children so they can work. “People who are poor should feel like they have some control over their lives, too. Why is that a luxury we only afford to rich people?” Jachimowicz says. “We have to structure organizations and institutions to empower everyone.” 

While being poor has made the people featured on this list more appreciative of the little things in life, it’s unfortunate that these luxuries couldn't be common occurrences in their lives. Being a person is stressful enough without having to worry about where your next meal is coming from or if your children can go on a school field trip. We all deserve so much more than having our basic needs met. We hope you enjoy reading the rest of this eye-opening list; then let us know in the comments what little things you’re grateful for that you’ll never take for granted.