Happiness Costs $75,000

It’s settled, money can buy happiness, and it tops out at $75,000. That’s the result of a new Princeton study which found that the way people evaluated their lives got steadily better as their annual income increased. A lower income makes things like divorce, bad health and being alone more emotionally painful. However, the way respondents rated the quality of their everyday experiences and feelings did not increase after passing the $75,000 mark.

“Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve individuals’ ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure,” postulated the study’s authors.

High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being [PNAS]

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