How to respond - "Money doesn't buy happiness."

[DeletedUser2]

im always curious about how they know...


so I ask, "how do you know?"



Z

 

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[andviv]

How exactly do you respond to someone who says money doesn't buy happiness?

I don't.

You are wasting your time.

It is like telling an atheist that god exists, or to a believer, that god does not exist. You can't convince them.

I honestly think you can't change people's beliefs when related to subjective things/feelings.

They have to come to that realization on their own.

 

[Vic]

Poverty doesn't either.

 

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[InMotion]

How exactly do you respond to someone who says money doesn't buy happiness?

I ask them if a lack of money buys happiness?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Since I've neglected to comment on these "happiness" threads, here is my official response to this thread, as well as the other.

Can Money Buy Happiness? I Dunno; Can it Buy Brocolli and Cookies?

 

[Kak]

Money just bought me a ticket to a caribbean island for the rest of the week

 

[Kak]

Money bought me this. Im pretty damn happy right now. Just saying.

 

[Vigilante]

You can be free without money. A hermit living in the mountains might feel he is completely free.

Also, you might want to read about Derek Sivers who sold CDbaby for $20M, put all the money in a trust for musicians, and sold every possession he had. He considers himself to be free, and after all, it is only a state of mind, so if he feels that way, then he is.

You might want to look into that a bit more.

He put the money into essentially what is a bank account. That bank account is throwing him over a million a year. When he DIES the balance goes to a charitable organization, if there is anything left. He takes a disbursement of 5% of the balance per year, every year in perpetuity until he dies. It's the equivalent of taking a lifetime disbursement from a lottery winning (with the added benefit of letting the balance grow with interest tax free) vs. taking a 1x lump sum and paying tax up front on that. He will make $1.1m per year, every year, until he dies or until the cash runs out. He's currently 43 years old. He's hoping the balance can yield at least 5% interest per year so that the money machine can continue to throw off $1.1m per year, otherwise he will be dipping into the principal, creating a death spiral that would not sustain the estimated 40 years of $1.1m in annual payments he receives.

It is true that after he dies, what ever is left (if anything) goes to charity. That's noble for sure, but will occur post death. In addition, I bet he gives significantly from the $1.1m he receives annually in perpetuity.

Rather than get $22m up front, and lose half to taxes to a bankable net of $11m... he's taking $1.1m per year over 40+ years. Smart, really. And at the end, a charity ends up with what ever principle remains. It's a cool strategy.

 

[andviv]

Why are you guys still bothering to argue about this?

Because of this:

Rather than get $22m up front, and lose half to taxes to a bankable net of $11m... he's taking $1.1m per year over 40+ years. Smart, really. And at the end, a charity ends up with what ever principle remains. It's a cool strategy.

And thanks to the troll, I now know something that people pay thousands of dollars to learn.

Thank you troll, I owe you $1,000 in Forum money.

P.S. I doubt he was trolling, but thanks again

 

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[Kak]

"Cute Excuse"

 

[jljtech]

This! (language) Skip to 2:12

[video=youtube;w4Pu_JuPILw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Pu_JuPILw&t=2m24s[/video]

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

You're right, money isn't everything... but it ranks right up there with oxygen!

 

[Jonleehacker]

If your happiness depends on anything, then you'll never be really happy. Real happiness is a fruit of your soul or your way of being or your personal development.

Why I think that money is associated with happiness is that SUCCESSFUL people have money, and becoming successful requires the kind of inner development that DOES LEAD TO HAPPINESS.

So it would be more accurate to say that Becoming successful buys you happiness (and brings money).

 

[jon.a]

I don't ague with stupid people.

 

[Mike39]

Jordan is a tool. He was a scammer thats all. He stole money from people.. and trust me i will still give a scammer the credit if they deserve it but he doesent. He got out of jail and tried to open two businesses which failed miserably....hmm what happened to the "principles" this guru is selling everyone now? Its easy to be good at sales when you lie to people in order to get people sending checks in then steal their money. Joke, dont even listen to that guy or anything he says, he had a bunch of drug addicts calling people 300x each per day lying to get their money then they stole it and put it into one of their fake stocks, not hard to do... you've got to be a real scumbag with some big ba***, or just rat everyone out when you get caught like he did.

As bad as this is, his book was the spark that got me interested in finance and then in turn entrepreneurship. I did't even think people could possibly make a million dollars in a month, and I wouldn't be on this forum had I not read his book. Cheesy story as follows: My aunt got me "The wolf on Wall Street" for Christmas, then for my birthday (February), since I liked the book so much, my mom asked my aunt to send out another business book for my birthday present (yes, books for my birthday). Buried between two shitty, regurgitated-info business books laid the Millionaire Fastlane , my life would be forever changed. True story

 

[Alchemy]

Money doesn't buy happiness?

Neither does oxygen, but they are both pretty important.

 

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[Kak]

I guess I pick unhappy then.

 

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[Determined2012]

Oh? Well, I'd rather be RICH and unhappy, versus BROKE and unhappy. SMH

 

[rocksolid]

It all depends on what a person defines as happiness. Most of us define being happy as having more time to do what ever we want. In order to do this you need money to take care of all of your daily needs, so in that respect yes money does buy happiness. Happiness can also be looked at as having good health. By having money to free up your time you can focus more time on yourself and go to the gym or what ever makes you healthy and if you fall ill you have the money to buy the best doctors in the world to make you better so again money can buy you happiness. I am not wealthy yet but a friend of money is and he has also told me that money can't buy happiness. I asked him if he would be willing to donate all of the money he makes and just keep enough to just live. He had nothing to say because it would never happen. My conclusion is that money can indirectly buy you happiness because it can eliminate many of the stresses in your life that make you unhappy.

 

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[dnice]

Awesome! Sounds like Jordan "The Wolf of Wall Street" Belfort.

This! (language) Skip to 2:12

[video=youtube;w4Pu_JuPILw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Pu_JuPILw&t=2m24s[/video]

 

[Kak]

"According to scientific research re: hedonic treadmilll that is conditionally true. What's your point?"

You might as well be speaking Russian.

 

[nzerinto]

I actually completely agree - money doesn't buy happiness.

It can buy a ton of freedom, however.

The people who argue why some rich people are miserable and why some dirt poor people are so happy don't look at the full picture. Money isn't the only factor in determining how happy you'll be - try adding all the other emotions and human experiences.

You simply cannot divorce the human from the emotion, therefore the argument is flawed to begin with.

 

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[Rickson9]

It all started in the mid-2000s, when his (John McAfee) tech fortune topped $100 million.

"Stuff by itself has little value," he told me in 2010, in an interview recounted in "The High-Beta Rich."

He said he rarely visited the houses he owned, or enjoyed the things he bought. The more he bought, in fact, the less he enjoyed his bounty. Each successive purchase needed to be larger than the last to excite him - and soon it all became just "stuff."

He said the "pursuit of things" distracted him from his real joy in life, which was creating companies. He told me that too many entrepreneurs in America are just in it for the wealth, not for creating something of lasting value.

"We have over time equated entrepreneurialism with the drive to accumulate wealth," he said. "It's a perversion of values."

McAfee's Unusual Gospel Of Wealth Led Him To Belize

Aside from the story about murder and political vengeance, most people who read the article won't be aware that it is also describing the common phenomenon of the hedonic treadmill.

Don't put the burden of happiness on money. Money buys you the freedom to do whatever you want. Which is a double edged sword depending on your personality.

I've never met anybody who was at a lower level of wealth, and happy with an inexpensive item, who increased their wealth 10,000-fold and was still happy with that same item.

If you want money, focus on the best way to get that. If you want to be happy, then focus on the best way to get that. If you want both, then do the things that are necessary to have both.

Don't assume that being happy is a substitute for money. Vice versa.

 

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[Kak]

Cigars? Golf? Networking? My god, you're the most boring 22/23 year old ever.

You know you are jealous. Business is my life. I love making money and enjoying myself while doing it. That picture is more about what is behind the cigar.

 

[Vigilante]

The whole site is for entertainment and education. Hang around for a while and you will notice that the party doesn't end just because MJ chimes in. You might be surprised to find out that some people (gasp) even think that MJ has been wrong once or twice! The only way a thread stops when MJ posts is if MJ closes it, and usually that is over some degree of jackassery. Sit back, eat your popcorn, and enjoy the show.

 

[DeletedUser2]

to become financially free, it only takes about 10 min, just lend me your check book....

Ill make you "financially free" pretty quick :smilielol:

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

I was in a meeting the other day and heard this beauty:

"Anyone who says money doesn't buy happiness hasn't given enough of it away yet."

 

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[WillHurtDontCare]

The purpose of life isn't happiness.

The people who say things like that are almost always losers who are trying to cope with the fact that they are bad at making money.

The real value of money is the power that it gives you over your own life, not in its ability to improve your ability to consume. It's not about stuff, it's about power.

 

[Pinnacle]

Read them Francisco's Money Speech.

 

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[Kak]

Honestly, let them go on believing their brainwashing. Frankly, it isn't my job to fix people.