Many of us have heard the idea that happiness plateaus at an income level of about $75,000 a year. As it turns out, there’s no such magical number and no such plateau, after all. The 2010 study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that what they called “emotional well-being” didn’t rise after the $75K. Their conclusion seemed to support the truism that “money can’t buy happiness,” and perhaps offered some reassurance that one didn’t need to strive to be a millionaire to have a happy life. More recent work, however, suggests that the methods they used to measure happiness were unreliable, calling into question the notion that happiness tops out at a specific income level.
Money, meaning, and happiness
Money, meaning, and happiness
Money, meaning, and happiness
Many of us have heard the idea that happiness plateaus at an income level of about $75,000 a year. As it turns out, there’s no such magical number and no such plateau, after all. The 2010 study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that what they called “emotional well-being” didn’t rise after the $75K. Their conclusion seemed to support the truism that “money can’t buy happiness,” and perhaps offered some reassurance that one didn’t need to strive to be a millionaire to have a happy life. More recent work, however, suggests that the methods they used to measure happiness were unreliable, calling into question the notion that happiness tops out at a specific income level.