It’s a myth that More Money = Happiness.

Yes, we have all heard that it is better to cry in a BMW than cry on the road. However, what matters at that point is that you are crying and unhappy. Your location is not relevant, you are just like the other person crying on the road. The point is that if “More Money = Happiness” were indeed true, the richest people would also be the happiest; the most seemingly beautiful and rich people would not be depressed.

Before you jump to bash me, let me clarify – money is important and extremely necessary but what is more important is what can money do for you that will give you happiness. What can money do for you? Research, science and your own experience will say that the joy of buying an iPhone will diminish in a couple of days and next year you think the next iPhone will make you Happy but the reality is truly elsewhere.

There are 6 things you can do with money

1.  Waste it (Excessive Partying , Smoking your Lungs out..)
2. Buy Things you need (Food, Clothes, Education, Home , Car and many other things)
3. Spend it on Lifestyle (Your wants whether that Gucci bag or Apple Watch)
4. Save and Invest (for meaningful goals and experiences .. in short for your future)
5. Give it
6. Hoard it (Yes you do accumulate money but all you do is think about money all the time and not
 let it do anything for you)


Which of the above 6 give you meaningful and long lasting happiness?

You need to answer this for yourself. You can pick any and say that it will make you Happy but there is no point doing it and learning after years that it won’t in fact, make you happy.

Let me save you some time… research done all over the world has shown that beyond your needs, true happiness from money comes only when you spend money on

• Experiences like taking a vacation with loved ones or by yourself, attending that music concert,
 taking that 7 day course that you always thought of, etc.
• Save it for a meaningful purpose like taking care of your loved ones, securing your child’s
 education, safeguarding your future, etc.
• Give it away to help people. Giving and helping others has been one of the most gratifying
    activity.

At a broad level, your duration of happiness increases as you move from Pleasure to Purposeful living

• Pleasure:  Pleasure is often Temporary (like buying new stuff, eating, movie) Happiness from
 such activities can last for few hours to few days at best. This is because the Law of diminishing
 returns is at work. For example, you eat a lovely meal and it’s delicious and gives you a lot of
 pleasure. Eat it over and over again for the next few days but you won’t feel the same level of
  pleasure as the first meal.
• Purposeful Living: Living with higher purpose e.g. altruistic goals such as Spreading Happiness,
 Helping someone or making a real difference in people’s lives or doing things that have a greater
    meaning to you creates lasting happiness.

This does not guarantee that you will not feel sad or not have a bad day. You certainly will but overall, you will be happier if you think of money in this manner and do things with money that will help you live a fulfilling life. Shifting to this way of thinking about money is a small change that could result in a big difference. The wisest and happiest of people have understood this and they do things with money that helps them get the best return on life.

In short when your purpose meets money, you become what we call HappyRich.

You become..

Richer by an Education

Richer by an Experience

Richer by a New Cuisine

Richer by Helping Someone

Live HappyRich

Amar Pandit, CFA, CFP

Founder, Happyness Factory