millionaire happiness

[Hatton]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/even-for-the-very-rich-more-money-brings-happiness-1512662638

Basically for those who do not have access to the WSJ the authors looked at Blackrock millionaire clients and found that those with 10 million were 0.25 point happier than those with only 1 or 2 million. Interestingly those who "earned" the money were happier than those who married it or inherited it.  Thoughts?  Is 10 million worth striving for?

[Rb52dds]

I was happy shooting for my "number" of $3million. After too much time on wci and lifestyle creep we're up to shooting for around $5M. After a recent wci article or something i got the $10M idea in my head. Thinking about trying to get to $10million makes me unhappy. That's a lot of money and a lot of work. If I had $10million maybe I'd be happier? Really the kids would inherit it all so my life with $3M, $5M and $10M would probably be the same. Maybe you worry less about the "what if" with $10M..... but even with $10M there are lots of things to worry about. Interesting article

[Hatton]

Basically is 0.25% more happiness worth striving for 8 more million?

[Complete_newbie]

Everyone wants different things in life and I suspect the process of getting there one learns a whole bunch of lessons which is enjoyable. Journey important than destination.

These types of argument can be constructed for many / any wants
- worth dating / marrying an attractive person ?
- worth getting MD/Phd if you are going to see patients like 80% of time anyways ?
- worth climbing Mount Everest ? Meh

To me reaching 10 million is a goal and totally worthed.

[Dr. Mom]

hatton1 wrote:

Basically is 0.25% more happiness worth striving for 8 more million?

Click to expand...

Depends on how easy it is to get there.  For us the answer is no.

[VagabondMD]

If I had $10M I would retire from medical practice tomorrow, hard stop. There would be the sense that I would never run out of money and that I could create the life that I would like to live without ever being concerned about money. As I start winding down my career, I am fairly certain that while I will likely never get there (in today’s dollars), I am still extremely unlikely to run out of money and can still live a life that is quite satisfactory.

Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

[Hatton]

I don't think any significant work on my part would be worth that small of addition to the happiness level.

[wideopenspaces]

Wish I could read the article, looks interesting! Is the difference in happiness like 90/100 vs 90.25/100? To me it makes very little sense to really strive for an extra 8M. In fact I'm pretty sure trying to get to 10M would make me VERY unhappy! I'd have to actually work full time, taking call, working weekends . . . For like 20 years. No thank you. I can easily get to 2-3M working part time without call or weekend work, spending time with my family and developing hobbies and relationships. I will choose that every time.
But if you're an entrepreneur and can just put a little more time or effort to get to that next level of wealth, maybe you go for it?
I think it really depends on the person, what drives them, and how they're achieving that wealth.

[Hatton]

It was based on a 10 point scale.  So I guess happiness went from 8.0 to 8.25.

[Dr. Mom]

hatton1 wrote:

It was based on a 10 point scale.  So I guess happiness went from 8.0 to 8.25.

Click to expand...

Seems to be a reminder that there is plenty of room that we can work on getting happiness level up in a more meaningful way than 0.25 for a lower cost than 8 million dollars.

[StarTrekDoc]

we're lucky to have crossed FI with worth ~4M without the primary house (without further expense creep and kids not returning) at ripe age of 45 -- so we're just crossing 7 on that scale .  Adding another 1-2M will push us to above 8.   But like mentioned, anything above that really is diminishing returns.

I would never see myself in expensive lux stuff or travel and end up family trust and legacy donations.

[G]

Since my number is like 3-6, no, I don't 10 is worth striving for.

That said, "eight-digit portfolio" IS listed as one of my goals...if the market/businesses continue to go up, might get there.

[The White Coat Investor]

You know, I follow the happiness literature pretty closely. I think it's worth knowing what it says and I think there's a lot of truth there. But I think a lot of happiness comes down to the words of Bryant Hinckley to his son when his son was a new missionary:

"Forget yourself and go to work."

Meaningful work brings happiness and serving others brings happiness. Trying to find it somewhere else I think can make a difference around the edges, but this is the key. Bucket list happiness is fleeting.

Certainly I wouldn't expect a meaningful increase in happiness in a net worth increase from $8M to $10M in today's dollars unless for some crazy reason $10M was "enough" and $8M was not, which seems pretty unlikely.

[StarTrekDoc]

to add onto that service brings happiness -- choose the right work and right environment that does that.   Right Specialty.  Right Location.  Right Amount.

[Hatton]

I think the point of the article was there is a small increase in happiness in low end millionaires (1-2 mill) versus the very wealthy defined as 10 mill or more.  The actual number from the survey was 0.25.  I asked is it worth it for such a small gain?  The previous numbers I had seen were $75000.  Implying no increase above this number.