Preamble
This article is part of the Money Myth series. In the Money Myth series, we explore how common beliefs about money may be hurting you from attaining the financial and ultimate freedom you desire. This time, we will be looking at if you really don’t need money to be happy.
Introduction
From the moment you are born until your early to late-twenties, you go to school. You spend a quarter of your life getting an education so that you can one day get a job. Hopefully, you get a job which pays well. This tells you that money is important to an extent, especially as we spend a quarter of our lives getting ready to join the workforce for the next two quarters of it.1
How then can we say that you don’t need money to be happy? We spend so much of our lives working!
At the most base level, it’s true that money alone will fail to bring happiness. After all, money is just a reflection of our intrinsic values. We are hired for our skills and knowledge that our employers lack. We help them solve a problem. In return, they pay us for this intrinsic value.
Money itself is an extrinsic object that has no value, other than that which governments say it has.
Yet, on other levels we do need money. Back in 2010, research shows that $75,000 is the optimal yearly income we need to maximize happiness. Now, it’s 2021. What does the study say? We need $85,000 to maximize happiness.
It’s pretty clear that money can bring happiness, but only to a certain extent. Money affords us the opportunity to live in comfort. It enables us to do good in the world. Finally, money amplifies the time in which we can do this good.
Money’s Purpose
It is helpful to reiterate the purpose of money at this point:
- Enables us to life in comfort.
- The more money you have, the more comfortable you’re able to life.
- Do good in the world.
- Amplifies the good we can do.
- Shortens the time in which we can do this good.
The “do good” part of money’s purpose is just as it sounds. Let’s say you want to bring clean water to parts of the world where people lack access. Or you want to help find the cure for cancer. But the thing is you’re not a builder or a biologist. So, it’s hard for you to accomplish these things on your own.
What you can do is leverage money. Use money to get other people who can do these things to help you accomplish these movements. The more people you can rally to your cause, the faster you can accomplish this good, perhaps even during your lifetime.
Your providing clean water also brings happiness to people who have spent their lives getting sick. With their basic needs taken care of, they can now move on to things that matter to them. They can better focus on their intrinsic values.
Money Is Important
As with any other money myths, you now see why you need money to be happy. The reasoning is just like any other money myth we covered. Your subconscious behaves in ways which harms your relationship with money. Let’s say you really don’t believe you need money to be happy. Then as soon as you have money in hand, you will spend it as fast as you can. This is another reason why you seem to be lacking money.
Remember that money at its most base level is just an extrinsic object. Happiness is still an inside job. It’s a mindset shift. You will be happy only when you decide to be happy. Money just makes things a lot easier.
If your basic needs are taken care of, then you start becoming a more self-actualized person. If you’re comfortable, then you’re not on the hunt for food, water, and shelter. This was the case early in our history, living in caves, avoiding each other and the saber tooth tiger that saw us as its next dinner . Every day, we fought for survival. Luxury, art, and self-actualization are things we can only obtain when these basic needs are addressed.
Money Brings New Experiences
Money buys you time so that you can figure out what really matters to you. You might be fighting to keep the lights turned on and have food in your belly. Living from paycheck to paycheck makes life hard. Lacking the basic necessities of life, it will be hard to find what matters to you. It will be hard to find your passion.
Money brings new experiences into your life and opens up new worlds for you. For example, you take classes in painting and find that you really enjoy this artform. Money has made it possible for you to find your joy.
Likewise, money makes it possible for you to travel and see the world. Travel opens you to new experiences. It brings new perspectives and keeps your challenged. After all, every country does things different. For example, in Hokadate, Japan, you board the bus (public transportation) in the back. Only after arriving at your destination do you pay your fare, which depends on the distance travelled. The system is based on honor. Try that in the United States!2 Here, you board the bus at the front, paying the fare ahead of time. The fare is flat but you can only travel so far before you have to pay another fare.
Don’t Need Money to Be Happy?
As we have just explored, there are several reasons why it helps to have money if you want to be happy. You spend 30 or 40 years of your life working at a job. This is another reason to start your own business. You can gain financial independence in as little as 12 years by being an entrepreneur. Of course, being a business owner is fraught with uncertainty and risks. This is why so many people choose to stay as employees. Given this context of dying a slow, spiritual death over those next 30 or 40 years, is this happiness? Or is taking a risk and getting what you want happiness? It depends on your values.
Money enables us to live in comfort, do good in the world, amplify the good we can do, and shorten the time to do this good.
Finally, money buys experiences. This enriches our lives that sole material possessions for the sake of amassing material goods can ever do.
So the next time someone tells you that money doesn’t bring happiness, you can tell them: That’s not exactly true!
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The best financial advice in the world will fail you if you have bad mindsets around money. What are some examples of bad money mindsets? Investing is only for the rich. I can never afford that. Money is the root of all evil.
I had many of the same money mindsets that you may now have. Through a concentrated effort, I was able to change most of these around. In the process, I transformed from a clueless guy–feeling like he’s barely making it–to someone who’s achieved a measure of financial freedom.
I invite you to get your free gift, 7 Money Mindsets Preventing You From a Positive Cashflow, today.
Discover the 7 most common myths (false beliefs) around money that’s keeping you from having more money!
- We assume a lifespan of 80 years.
- This is zero possibility that it will work in the United States. For example, you lose a wallet and you’ll likely need to cancel all your credit cards and buy a new wallet. In Japan, you will likely get your wallet back, with all your credit cards and money still intact!