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Money and Happiness

by Paige Williams

on American Dream Project 2014-15

The American Dream, desired by many, can be attained in many different ways. Many people aspire to be rich in order to reach that dream but these aspirations in life will not get you there. The American Dream is reached through the happiness and love present in one's life. Being rich and having money will not and can never alone make someone happy. One can have a countless amount of possessions but these items will never fulfill true happiness. Money can buy you temporarily happiness but an infinite happiness is priceless. While having a lot of money can solve many problems, having too much money can also bring a variety of problems. Money, although seen as an inspiration for the youth, brings many difficult aspects into ones life,cannot buy love and happiness, and will only make you happy depending on how you spend it.
A major problem with our society these days is the young adults aspirations to be rich. When asked the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up” surprisingly many people will respond “to be rich”. Many teens believe that if they have a lot of money all other potential problems will be solved, when in reality a lot of money can bring various complications itself. For example, when a research project at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College, anonymously surveyed families with incomes over 25 million they “ were surprised to find that while money eased many aspects of these people's lives, it made other aspects more difficult.” (https://diigo.com/0757jv) One difficulty that was mentioned was parents worried about their childrens motivation in life. “They worried that if their children have enough money and don't have to worry about covering the mortgage, what will motivate them?” (https://diigo.com/0757jv) Money also brought other concerns, “such as the way their children would be treated by others and stereotyped as rich kids or trust fund babies, they wondered if their children would know if people really loved them or their money, whether they'd know if their achievements were because of their own skills, knowledge and talent or because they have a lot of money.” (https://diigo.com/0757jv) These researchers discovered that although money seems to be the solution to a variety of things, money can also create many complications in one's life that can not just be bought away. These complications which create stress can stray someone away from true happiness.
Anyone with money can buy diamonds and gold and many useless prizes but at the end of the day how do those things affect someone's emotional state? Will these items ever bring someone happiness for more than a couple days or is it just temporary. As mentioned by Paul Mc
Cartney in response to the Beatles song “ Can't Buy Me Love”, ''The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well, but they won't buy me what I really want” (https://diigo.com/0757jt) Money can buy all sorts of things but true happiness and love is priceless. Like Mc
Cartney said possessions are cool but in the end how are they making you happy. These items don't make a person any happier than they were a week before. True happiness such as love which is mentioned in their song, cannot be bought. Gatsby for example threw great parties and had many big, fancy materials but these items were never enough to fulfill him emotionally. He needed love from Daisy in order to be happy and that love had to be worked for and could never be bought. When someone gets a raise or buys a new car they feel great about themselves for a while but “what happened a year later? You felt pretty much the same way you did before the big jump in pay. Your income was up, but so were your expenses. You're really not that much happier or unhappier since you started making more.”( https://diigo.com/0757ju) How do these things effect your happiness in the long run. How long does a gold watch affect one's happiness vs. a loving spouse, and which one will make someone happier. The answer which is obvious is what supports the idea of money not buying a happiness. A man who is happily married is ten times more likely to be happy vs. a man who buys a countless amount of items and has not experienced true love. Items are only temporary whereas love creates a happiness that is infinite.
Although money itself cannot buy happiness, the way a persons spends their money can. According to The Science of Smarter Spending. “It turns out, what you do with your money seems to matter just as much to your happiness as how much you make”. (https://diigo.com/0757jw) If someone has used their money to benefit another family or charity, they're more likely to be happy than someone with twice their income and spends their money selflishly. “Studies show that happiness is less dependent on things like your income and more dependent on day-to-day activities. That means giving gifts makes you feel better and strengthens relationships.” (https://diigo.com/0757ju) Based of off Dunns research,“spending money on others, especially a loved one, is one of the happiest things you can do with your money”(https://diigo.com/0757jw) When spending money on other people, “Both givers and receivers are happier when a gift is a good fit for the recipient's personality.”(https://diigo.com/0757jw) Using your money to benefit others can help make someones day as well as make you feel good about yourself thus being happy.
The American Dream can be reached in many different ways but money is not the basis. Yes, in some ways money can make you happy such as spending it to benefit others, but true happiness comes from love which is priceless. Although money seems to be the solution to many problems, a lot of money itself can bring a variety of complications. Using money to buy useless items can bring you happiness temporarily but infinite happiness does not have a price. Money although pursued by many, alone cannot buy anyones happiness and can create more problems than solutions in a persons life.