You have heard the expression “money can’t buy happiness,” as that quote insinuates that happiness can only come from within and not from your possessions. And in some cases, there may be truth to that as you may have heard that many people who struggle financially find it within them to be happy as they likely have an attitude of gratitude even though they don’t have many possessions. But, on the other hand, perhaps some people are delighted and grateful that they have enough money to cover their essentials. 

On the flip side, you have plenty of wealthy individuals that live miserable lives. So those facts are behind that quote. However, what if those cases mentioned above are the exception and not the rule. Because there have been plenty of studies conducted on whether or not making more money can bring you more happiness. And the conclusion the scientists who conducted the studies found was yes, making more money usually does get you more enjoyment. 

Money Does Make You Happier, But Up To A Point

Think about it. If you have more money, you do not have to struggle to afford your essentials, and you also have extra money to put away for emergencies. You also can use the money you have made to help remove any stress. For example, you discovered that there are pointers online that can ruin your reputation, but you have the money to erase that. That alone removes stress. You also have the money you can spend on vacation and other fun experiences. 

And as mentioned, there may be poor individuals that are happy because they live in gratitude, but they do have more stress because they don’t have the money that will help bring them out of it the way someone who is financially well-off does. But here is the thing. According to researchers, how you acquire money has a significant impact on your happiness. Additionally, you are only happier up to a point. That may sound counterintuitive, but it is true. 

A study conducted in 2010 out of Princeton found that the happiness increased with higher salaries up to a point. When the participants earned $75,000 per annum or more, they were not any happier than those earning a little less than that. However, someone who made that amount was significantly happier than those who earned $30,000 or $40,000 per annum. And that is because if you are earning $75,000 per annum, you have more means to live a less stressful life than you would if you made several tens of thousands of dollars below that. 

And even though it is nice to enjoy some luxuries resulting from making more money, that is not going to contribute to your happiness very much. That is because possessions do not buy happiness. So now, let’s take a look and see how happy multi-millionaires are. 

Does Being A Multi-Millionaire Make You Happier?

You learned that studies found that the happiness index peaks if you make about $75,000. And yet, that may make you think that multi-millionaires are miserable. There were studies conducted in 2017 on millionaires. They found that millionaires or multi-millionaires are not much happier than those earning $75,000 per annum until their net worth is over $10,000,000. However, the difference between someone worth $10,000,000 and someone worth $2,000,000 is modest. The way someone has become a multi-millionaire also depends on their happiness. Let’s look at what makes someone a happier multi-millionaire than others. 

What Makes Someone A Happier Multi-Millionaire?

Even though it is true that “money does not always buy more happiness,” what matters more is how someone became wealthy. That means the happiest people who are incredibly rich are the ones who started with nothing but worked very hard and very smartly to become extremely wealthy. Therefore, these individuals are proud of themselves for being incredibly financially successful, which has so much to do with their happiness. 

These individuals are the happiest millionaires or multi-millionaires because they understand how it is to struggle financially since they built their wealth from scratch. They have the appreciation of having the kind of money that they do. Because of that, these individuals treat their money like gold as they will spend it wisely and use it to help others. They will donate and save it wisely. It is not an easy job becoming a millionaire, and even more so a multi-millionaire. Therefore, it may not even be the money so much that makes them happy. It is the feeling of significant accomplishment that does. Now you know that the happiest wealthy people are the ones who worked very hard for it. What about those who acquired wealth by other means?

Does Money Make You Happy If You Acquire It Through Other Means?

If you have worked a lower-paying job your entire life, but you suddenly learned that your rich estranged uncle passed away and left a lot of the inheritance to you, you may be excited that you can finally live more of a lavish lifestyle. If you play the lottery and learn that you won the jackpot, the same goes. Therefore, you may think you are happy and ecstatic when you learn that you will become rich through other means without having anything to do with working for it. 

But once they have the money, that becomes a different story. A study conducted in 2007 found that those who inherited or won $200,000 or more ended up experiencing extreme stress by having the money that they did not know what to do with. However, they would learn how to manage their money along the way. And that is why it was found that after two years of having the money, they found more happiness than those who did not inherit or win money. That is likely because they learned to figure out how to live with that extra money and spend it and save it wisely. 

Though, those with no money sense would spend it all on frivolous things, and then they would be miserable as a result. The bottom line is that money does buy happiness, but only to a degree. Suppose you work hard and achieve wealth. As a result, that will make you the happiest regarding money. If you inherit or win money and learn how to manage the money properly, that will also moderately increase happiness after two years of having it. 

Therefore, happiness largely depends on how to treat your money when you have it. Spending it and saving it wisely and using it to help relieve stress is the way money will make you the happiest. Therefore, if your only goal to have more money is to spend it on frivolous items, buying a mansion, and using it to go on one extravagant holiday after another, then you will be sadly disappointed.