I've recently read that wealth and happiness are only statistically correlated up to around $64,000/yr. This article suggests that the correlation goes a lot higher. Further research required… send me money and I'll report back upon reaching my happiness threshold.
Economists Nail It: You Can Never Be Too Rich
By Peter Coy
I just spoke with Justin Wolfers, co-author of a short but important new paper that concludes the more money you have, on average, the happier you are. That may seem to deserve a Homer Simpson “Duh!” award for most obvious research finding of the month, but in fact it contradicts an assertion made in 1974 by Richard Easterlin, who said that increasing average income did not increase average well-being.
The wife-and-husband economist team of Betsey Stevenson and Wolfers, who teach at the University of Michigan, showed that happiness and life satisfaction are higher in rich countries than in poor countries. And within any given country, rich people are happier than poor people. Not always, of course. Some poor people are happier than some rich people. But that’s not the pattern.
Keep reading: Economists Nail It: You Can Never Be Too Rich – Businessweek.
