Current:Home > ScamsThe price of happiness? $200,000, according to one recent survey-InfoLens
The price of happiness? $200,000, according to one recent survey
View Date:2025-01-11 00:56:22
A new survey found that, despite the cliche about money and happiness, a majority of Americans know the amount of money they would need to feel content.
Financial advice website Cardrates.com found that 56% of Americans say they would be content with a liquid net worth of over $200,000 dollars.
The survey, comprised of 786 employed Americans who are between 18 and 43 years old, found that having money may not buy happiness, but a safety net does allow one not to worry about a financial emergency.
"Knowing you’ve got money set aside can ease worries about future uncertainties, whether a medical emergency or a layoff," Jon McDonald, author of Cardrate's summary of the study wrote. "This peace of mind goes a long way in feeling happy overall."
The amount of money Americans need has grown in over a decade as a 2010 Gallup survey found that the annual salary respondents said would maximize happiness was $75,000.
Learn more: Best current CD rates
The average American made $59,384 per year at the end of 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As income rises, amount needed to be happy does too
The study found that the respondents with higher salaries said that they would require more money to be content.
Seventy-four percent of respondents currently making $40,000 said that they would be content making $150,000, compared to 64% of those who currently make $150,000.
McDonald pointed to the Hedonic Treadmill phenomenon to explain the responses, saying that, "people chase a higher income to achieve happiness, only to return to a baseline level of contentment after a short-lived boost."
Generational differences in money and contentment
The study found that millennials and Gen Z respondents differed in their priorities regarding salaries and investments.
Millennial respondents said that they would be more content with a higher salary job, whereas Gen Z respondents favored having a higher liquid net worth.
Seventy-five percent of millennial respondents surveyed said would feel content with a $150k salary, compared to 71% of Gen Z, whereas 84% of Gen Z respondents said they would be comfortable with a $1,000,000 liquid net worth compared to 81% of millennial respondents.
McDonald pointed to the formative economic environments of each generation for the differences, saying that the larger paycheck was a sign of accomplishment for the millennial generation economically delayed by the Great Recession and that Gen Z, shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, found that building assets was a safer strategy.
veryGood! (1146)
Related
- Why Kathy Bates Decided Against Reconstruction Surgery After Double Mastectomy for Breast Cancer
- 'Like a living scrapbook': 'My Powerful Hair' is a celebration of Native culture
- Your Guide to Mascara Cocktailing—The Lash Hack All Over TikTok
- An ode to playlists, the perfect kind of sonic diary
- Contained, extinguished and mopping up: Here’s what some common wildfire terms mean
- Hit animated film 'Moana' will receive a live-action remake, Disney announced
- Sacramento will rename a skate park after its former resident Tyre Nichols
- In 'Above Ground,' Clint Smith meditates on a changing world, personal and public
- Review: 'Emilia Pérez' is the most wildly original film you'll see in 2024
- 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' has high charisma
Ranking
- Younghoo Koo takes blame for Falcons loss to Saints: 'This game is fully on me'
- 'Benjamin Banneker and Us' traces generations of descendants of the mathematician
- In defense of fan fiction, and ignoring the 'pretensions of polish'
- See Gisele Bündchen Recreate Her 2004 Rio Carnival Look Nearly 20 Years Later
- Why have wildfires been erupting across the East Coast this fall?
- What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing
- Love Is Blind's Deepti Vempati Shares the Morning Mantra That Will Start Your Self-Love Journey
- Hit animated film 'Moana' will receive a live-action remake, Disney announced
Recommendation
-
Gun groups sue to overturn Maine’s new three-day waiting period to buy firearms
-
From 'Almost Famous' to definitely famous, Billy Crudup is enjoying his new TV roles
-
Stranger Things' David Harbour Shares Heartfelt Reaction to Noah Schnapp's Coming Out
-
Daisy Jones and The Six Is Already Giving Us '70s Fashion Inspo
-
Lost luggage? This new Apple feature will let you tell the airline exactly where it is.
-
A tough question led one woman to create the first Puerto Rican reggaeton archive
-
Nordstrom Rack Clear the Rack Sale: Score an $89 Sweater for 11, $6 Dresses, $3 Tops & More
-
Two migrant kids fight to stay together — and stay alive — in this harrowing film