Having A Plentiful Pile of Yuan

Money makes me happy. There’s no doubt about it. Whether I’m buying something to eat, purchasing a nice pair of shoes, or even going on a getaway to the exotic land of China, I’m always using money to fulfill my desires, which in turn makes me happy. I can definitely say that if I had a lot of money, I’d consequently have a lot of happiness.

Of course, it all depends on the person, and what makes them happy. One person’s ideal life might be living on an island alone, which wouldn’t require any sort of money. On the other hand, another person might want to live alone in a New York penthouse suite- that would require  money. Different people might have different demands, and the possibility that money can meet those demands varies among person to person. Maybe money doesn’t have a linear correlation with happiness; it depends on who you’re asking.

I remember as a child, I didn’t have quite this understanding. I used to ask for indulgences almost every day, from candy bars to expensive toys, and whenever my parents refused (all the time, thankfully), I’d ask them why. Every time, their reason involved money, like how it would be a waste to buy the candy, or that the toy was too expensive. Because of this, I’d always dream about having infinite money, and therefore all the candy and toys I could ever want. I’d always dream about living in a beautiful island home surrounded by exotic flora and fauna. I’d always dream about being happy because of all the money I had.

I mean, my dreams still hold true now, it’s just that I don’t think the answer to the question of “Can money buy happiness” is as simple as 7-year-old me imagined. Money is a societal construct, so if one weren’t part of a society that uses money, I doubt the answer to the question would be “yes”. For all productive (and unproductive) members of society, however, I think that more money is definitely associated with more happiness, especially among people that struggle to make ends meet, because they’d be able to afford whatever they needed. I’ve never experienced the struggle of having an income I could barely survive off of, so I wouldn’t pretend to know the happiness of having abundant wealth compared to barely any, but I’d imagine that people in general would be happier with more money. At a certain point, I think happiness can plateau a little, because you’d have more money than you could spend and the line kind of blurs between having 10 million and 11 million, but overall, it’s accurate that people become happier if they have more money.

Of course, it’s not guaranteed that one would be able to find their happiness, so I think the best answer to this question would be that money gives you more opportunities to become happy, and therefore money can theoretically “buy” happiness, but it’s up to the individual to decide what’s best for them.