Are Rich People happier Than Poor People?

Question

i'am a single mom raising 2 teenagers .i take of my kids ...but it cost money .."home,clothes...food....laundry.....you get the picture....BUT.....however.....and i WORK HARD and my family is happy..i'am content...a bit sleepy but content. the bills are paid. every thing i have and buy is paid for with cash NOT PLASTIC.....so rich people can buy nannies,bmw's all these material and earthly possessions......does money buy happiness??? i want your true opinion .

Answer 1

Money in no way buys happiness. Just look at the lives of people starring in the movies, the Hollywood crowd, the rich athletes. They have more problems, commit suicide, get married sixteen times and so on, and there is no way they could actually be happy living like that. The benefit of the nicer things in life wears off REAL fast after you have it and I have no doubt they constantly struggle with the buyers remorse plague, looking for a mansion to make them happy, which of course it will not.

Answer 2

Not really. It's tough to measure happiness, but money doesn't really "buy happiness". There are too many problems that come with being rich, as there are the problems of the poor. A report a couple of months ago also reported that people that were in lower classes were actually the ones with more free time and time for other activities which was somewhat surprising and at the same time not.

There might be the satisfaction of being able to pay for nannies, all sorts of different material possessions and whatnot, but there is also definitely the satisfaction of being able to pay for something that you have been aspiring to and have worked hard to earn (if you aren't rich).

All in all, I think there are definitely people that are very happy on both sides of the spectrum. There are a lot of people that live well and very happy, despite the fact that they can't afford cable or fancy cars and houses. There are also people that do have it all and are happy. Then, there are also people that are unhappy that are rich and poor. It's going to depend on the mindset and environment of each.

Answer 3

I can fully understand where you are coming from, I also am single mom raising 2 young boys. My ex was quite rich but very unhappy and hence made our lives miserable. ( I didn't have a lawyer I got squat in the divorce... We made it out alive and that's all I care about) I learned a lot about money from starting my own business and that saying money is the root of all evil it's not true....The real truth about money is it's neutral, if you give money to a knuckle head they are going to do something insidious with it, while you give it to a person who has common sense and they will do good things with it. The only difference between the haves and have not's is attitude. My suggestion read a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad it gives really good insights from the poor dad's perspective and from the rich dad's. I heard something the other day that cracked me up. "This business man was on an airplane and he was bumped up to first class along with another young man, the young man asked the other business man what he did for a living. The business man replied he was on a speaking tour and he teaches people how to become wealthy. The young guy said money can't buy happiness. The business man laughed and said "Your poor aren't you?" The young guy replied Well money can't buy what I have.The business man said "oh and what's that?" the young guy said. I have Peace... the business man said You have a cell phone there right? The young guy said, Yes I do. The business man said Ok next time you go to pay your bill you tell the cell phone company. "I don't have any money but I have lots peace. They'll look at you and tell you to peaceoff!"
Now his point wasn't that money can buy you happiness, only that it takes money to pay for everything. If you keep the poor man attitude you will be poor... we are what we say we are. Thats where true happiness is.

Answer 4

In the first place, you aren't poor. You have what you need and you're able to pay for it yourself. Being rich hardly guarantees happiness but being poor almost always leads to misery. Ben Franklin said "Lack of money leads to lack of everything." If money raises you from poverty to the middle class it will make you happy. After that the improvements are negligible. It's all between your ears. The poster who said it depends on your expectations got a thumbs up from me. I have a friend who's household income is about 80 grand, she has a 50,000 dollar truck and 40 grand in a CD. She always laments her "poverty." You asked "are the rich happier than the poor." The answer to that is "yes." Are the rich happier than the middle class? would have been more to the root of your curiosity. The answer to that is yes, no, maybe and sometimes. People are different. People are jealous of the rich. And they want to believe they are not happy. You can't generalize like that. Some are and some aren't same as anybody else. I'd bet that the rich are overall more satisfied with their lives than most.

Answer 5

Studies have shown that happiness level increases in proportion to income only until a person is comfortable (bills paid, not working 100 hrs a week just to pay for food, etc). After that, income increases don't cause much increase in happiness.

Studies also show that if you are slightly better off than your peers--friends, neighbors, graduating class--then you're much more likely to be happy and satisfied with your wealth/income. If you have the crappiest house in Beverly Hills you might be unhappy, but if you have the nicest trailer in your town in Mississippi, then you'll feel accomplished and confident.

I also think that a person's expectations of wealth (versus the wealth/income they actually end up with) go a long way toward making you happy. If you grew up poor and never thought you'd amount to anything, you'll be really happy with a steady job and nice house. If you grow up expecting to take over your dad's $10,000,000 business and you don't--well you'll be pretty unhappy, even if you are very affluent.

Answer 6

Are Rich People happier than Poor People?

Well....just from my limited experience with being poor and seeing rich folks from the outside, I'd have to say, not always. Money by itself isn't *sufficient* to buy happiness, as you yourself figured out. ^_^

But. There are "hygiene" factors to consider. Things people, everyone, needs, and if they aren't taken care of life gets nasty, and unpleasant quickly. Simple stuff, like Do I have a Roof Over My Head? or Do I have Food on the Table? or If I Break My Arm, can I get it Taken Care Of?

Money, for almost everyone, makes these hygiene factors *go away*. Having food on the table isn't even an issue when you are rich. Neither is being homeless and begging on the streets. So it does *decrease the odds* that you will end up miserable in life, or that if you should end up miserable (say, courtesy of a treatable mental illness) that you *will* be able to afford proper and *effective* health care to get yourself well. Not just "stable", but *Better*, big difference there.

And....I'd also submit that it is only common sense that having the Big Wad-o-Cash (tm) also *increases your odds* that you will be free to do what you want with your time. You will be able to afford to do more, and you will have the option of *making time* to do it (versus having to do another double shift to get paid).

So yeah....money isn't *sufficient* or enough by itself, to buy happiness, but....at a minimum level some money is *necessary* to avoid misery and to *allow* yourself an opportunity to do things that make you happy.

Not that you need to be a billionaire to do this. Nobody *needs* to be a billionaire. If you get a decent amount of pay for your work and you are content and *able* to keep up what you are doing to stay happy....then you have enough for you, maybe even your kids. ^_^

I hope this helps, and thanks for your time! ^_^ Take care...

Answer 7

happiness is when you have achieved something that u wanted to have..it is also being truly happy in wht you have..in being satisfied..so if a poor person thinks about not having money and a car and so on then he will never be happy..we all have innumerable things to mk us feel happy..if only we pondered to think what these things are..it could be your 2 teenagers giving you happiness or just a bowl of soup that you made for yourself..if money bought happiness then all rich ppl would be happy then why do we hear of so many suicides (marlyn monroe) and ppl misdirected..money can and will always buy material possessions..happiness is a choice that you make in your mind

Answer 8

Well it depends on the person. I mean if that person is rich and has everything they could ever want, they probably take things for granted and if everything was suddenly taken away from them, then they'd basically have nothing. A poor person on the other hand has their family and they probably are happy that they try hard and at least they have people who love them. And if you have the essentials of life (food and water, shelter, oxygen) then it doesn't matter does it?

Answer 9

No. I remember in my social psychology class we learned about a study where they asked people who had just won the lottery, and people who had just become quadriplegic, to rate their happiness. After a year they asked them again.

Initially people were happy or sad due to changes in wealth or abilities. But after a year, they rated the same in happiness. The human mind is remarkable in its ability to get used to any situation, good or bad. I believe it too.

That's why I always try to look on the bright side of things -- even if my situation sucks now, it would seem great to a person who has even less.

Answer 10

Do you ever watch soap operas like Dynasty, Dallas or even Ugly Betty?

The rich have their problems -- different from the poor's problem of where to get the next meal -- but they do have problems.

And they are not necessarily happier than those who have no money. They definitely live more comfortable lives, but it doesn't mean that they have happier lives.