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Subscribe to RSSCNBC's Robert Frank has the results of what people around the world say they need to make to be "happy."
More than one study has tried to determine the financial price of happiness. Some look at wealth. Others look at income.
One well-publicized study last year put the optimal income for happiness at around $75,000. Rising income, it turns out, produces greater happiness until you get to around $75,000. After that, there are diminishing returns, with more income leading to little or no gain in real happiness.
This is a fraught question, of course. “Happiness” itself is not easily defined, and money doesn't always guarantee it. And the financial requirements for happiness usually depend on geography, peer groups and other external factors.
The latest to weigh in on the issue is Skandia International’s Wealth Sentiment Monitor. It found that the global average “happiness income” is around $161,000 for 13 countries surveyed. The United States wasn’t specifically measured. (Read more: Why Millionaires Prefer Dogs)
But there was a wide range of answers depending on the country. Dubai residents need the most to feel wealthy. They said the needed $276,150 to be happy. Singapore came in second place, with $227,553, followed by Hong Kong, with $197,702.
The region with the most modest needs for happiness is Europe. Germans only need $85,781 to be happy, placing them lowest on the list. The French need $114,000, while the British need $133,000.
The survey doesn’t ask about total wealth needed to feel happy. But it does ask about the amount of wealth needed to feel “wealthy.” Globally, the average amount needed to feel wealthy was $1.8 million.
Singaporeans took the lead on the “wealth” needs, with $2.91 million needed to feel wealthy. Dubai ranked second with $2.5 million, followed by Hong Kong with $2.46 million. (Read more: Where to Live If You Want to Be a Millionaire)
Surveys show that among Americans, most say they need $1 million or more to feel wealthy.
All of this shows that wealth and financial happiness is not an absolute number, but is relative to your peers and surroundings. Living in Dubai, with all those oil barons and oligarchs, the needs are higher. In Germany, where wealth is more evenly distributed, the needs are not as high.
How much wealth or income would you need to feel happy?
Follow Robert Frank on Twitter: @robtfrank
CNBC's Robert Frank looks inside one of the world's most expensive apartments.
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Where do they come up with these abstract numbers??
Wouldn't you just say "Eh, 200k and I'd be happy"
It's just an average number. If for example, 2 people said they need 225K to be happy and one said 275K, the average would be $241,666--a weird number.
I see the greedy Americans need more than a million dollars a year salary to pay for their Sears, Disney, Walmart stuff, made in Bangledash by people making $56.00 a month, of which 112 died in a massive fire.
Sure, without their knowledge!
i'm glad the average income is around $167,000 a year, when can i expect my monies...right now I'm about $ 142,000 a year short. purhaps I should have the union strike outside my company and scare the @!$%# out my boss, so he can give me a raise...if they can demand $15 an hour @ MCDee's then I deserve my raise too !
I'd like to place a bid: I'll be happy for only $80K a year. If I'm the low bidder, please let me know!
While I am not so naive to believe money will make anyone happy I for one would be happy with enough to pay my everyday household expenses. Most of us in America have much more than 90% of the worlds population. Plus the amount would change as the income goes up, it is the way of the rich and powerful. They will never intenionally allow anyone to become so wealthy that they cannot control their actions in some way. When the national average income goes up they raise the cost of everything they can to take it away. If you earn eighty thousand dollars a year and you seem to be capturing some relief from debt, the next thing you see will be and increase in some local or national tax, or the cost of food,gas,clothing,utilities and many things of which you cannot have control of. Americans are really stupid to believe that we are in control of our own lives. You are given just enough rope to keep you calm. Have you not noticed how when the price of fuel goes up each and every day nothing is said until a certain ceiling has been reached, then people start screaming for the government to do something and look what happens, the price starts to go down and continues to go down for a while until the screaming stops then it starts to edge up again. Are you so stupid to believe that this is not a planed occurence. Unless you do hit the lottery and become wealthy overnight, your income is very carefully controlled, and even then the powers that be take 25 to 30 percent of your winnings just because they want to, they did not work for the money to buy that ticket, they actually had already taxed the money you spent to buy the ticket, and after that they take more and more as you spend it. Anerica, where the rich and powerful people inside and outside of the government are controlling and manipulating three hundred million people, kind of sounds like china doesn't it. The federal reserve bank of which is a private owned unity, owns America, they alone could destroy this nation in one day.
No wonder why I feel only 30% happy. I make only $48000.
You haven't taken very many economics classes have you?
I would settle for $160K.
How about $1.75 million for driving your company into the ground?
US bankruptcy judge approves $1.75 million in bonuses for Hostess executives
By David Walsh
1 December 2012
A federal bankruptcy judge in White Plains, New York, Thursday granted approval to bonuses of $1.75 million for Hostess Brands executives as they organize the liquidation of the company.
The shutting down of Hostess’s operations means the destruction of 18,500 jobs and the closure of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, some 5,500 distribution routes and 570 outlet stores scattered across the US. Many smaller communities will be devastated by the actions.
However, Judge Robert Drain saw fit to agree with Hostess management that 19 executives deserved extra compensation as they wind down the company they helped to drive into the ground.
The justification given by Hostess for the bonuses is that top-quality people are necessary “to expeditiously and cost-effectively execute the Winddown Plan and control costs to maximize value for the Debtors’ creditors.” Because of the plan’s “challenges and complexities, it will be critical for the Debtors to motivate and encourage the Senior Management Employees.”
Responding to ineffectual objections from attorneys for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union to the bonus plan, Drain argued that the liquidation work would call for effort “significantly beyond the type of jobs that [the executives] were doing at the start of this case,” and termed the incentive plan “an exercise of proper business judgment.”
The Wall Street Journal noted that “The management bonuses would total about 25 percent to 75 percent of the managers’ annual base salary and are in lieu of bonuses they would ordinarily receive.” CEO Gregory Rayburn, not eligible for a bonus, is currently earning $125,000 a month, or $1.5 million a year…
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/dec2012/host-d01.shtml
Hey liberals , why don't you begin a movement to have government send everyone $ 161,000 each year so they could all be happy. That would solve the problem of the poor. You could even stipulate that anyone productive had to go on making their own money and were not eligible for the government payment.
This sounds like an idea the government would entertain.
It is very insensitive to publish an article such as this because most people do not make that much.
Arch,
I think your post is a bit off the point of the article. But I love your name :) The GBU, greatest western ever made for sure :)
Money has absolutley nothing to do with happiness, it does however have a lot to do with health. If you do not earn enough money to at the least provide the basics in your life and are continously in stress, you will be subceptable to getting sick a lot. To me all things are equal in the real life, the rich want more, and more, never being satisfied. The poor while they think they want more, they in reality would be satisfied with enough to live day to day. I live in the south and their are extremes in all races of living. I have seen black people would live off the government and drive brand new automobiles. I know many black people who work their a**es off and would not take a cent from the government, they seem to be content with older model automobiles. I have seen white people who live in decent homes that they own but drive ten year old automobiles. I see asians who have several generations sharing the same large home and run their own businesses where they all work and work eighteen hours a day. I assume they are happy with this but they are a very closed race who prefers to stay together and they will not talk to outsiders. The mexicans are the same. Soloman who is supposed to be the author of Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13 said "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." All other things are vanity and greed and hatred, and for the rich who choose to gain riches on earth, and do not obey God, there is a place in hell just for them. I have not yet seen a rich person take their earthly riches with them to the grave. I now understand why Jesus, who I believe to be the Messiah, said that it would be easier to put a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. I just do not understand the thinking behind people who have everything but want more and more. I guess this is because I have to work very hard all of my life just to make ends meet and just to go out for dinner with my wife on special occasions. I really must confess and if I am wrong " I ask God to forgive me" but I despise rich people. I do not hate them, but their greed is unforgivable. I am torn when it comes to income equality, I do not understand why there are some who just because they went to college or were born in wealth or have a special gift deserve more than someone who dropped out of school for one reason or another and works at a factory or for that matter has to work period deserves less. I hear the right wing commentators talking about the poor having one or more televisions or two cars and a cell phone like just because they are poor do not deserve these things, They piss me off, they do not realize that these people buy the cheapest of these products which wear out fast, or break down more or on a month to month plan. I could go on and on as to the reasons why I dislike the rich but to those who fall in the less than forty thousand dollars a year catagory know what I am talking about. They always bring up that they where once in that position, but they fail to discuss how they obtained their wealth. To me they do not have to, they recieved it buy birth ( their ancestors stole it or cheated the poor). I listen to them tell about how they started their business and worked long hard hours to become sucessful, I notice they do not bring up the fact that they hired people to work those same hours and paid them very low wages while they built up their own wealth, and when they had obtained their wealth, do you think they shared this with their uneducated employees, hell no.
Another faux news article replete with useless information that proves nothing. Bad toilet room reading.
That sounds about right. $75K is probably around where you stop worrying whether you can pay bills and have enough food and maybe even some entertainment so you automatically get the default happy, aka security. Now, beyond that is how you measure yourself and what you aspire to be which is harder to measure and kind of abstract depending on your culture and how you were raised and there is no set answer that fits everyone. Some folks would lavish themselves with closet full of designer shoes to feel complete, and some others with climbing the mount Everest, who knows....
Yus....Just curious....are you single?
I think for the average, $75,000 isn't a bad benchmark ... if you don't need to fill your shelves with the latest electronics and closets with designer shoes. That also, of course, depends upon where you live. It's obviously easier to live on $75,000 with a small family in a small midwestern town than with a large family on one of the coasts.
My income covers my 'needs' (food, shelter, transportation etc) and for that I am truly grateful...................
Yus - where do you live that 75k means you stop worrying about bills? In the NE 75k gets you next to nothing. I make a little more that that and honestly after the mortgage payment and OMG the day care costs are almot another mortgage payment - little is left. I just want to make enough money that I can go food shopping without a worry of the bill at the end :) (that would make me happy)
$161,000? If NBC says money can buy you happiness, then it MUST be true! Is the next step to tax the rich down to that level (whatever it happens to be based on where one lives, or as the article says, "relative to your peers and surroundings")?
FYI: My avatar is Jamie Foxx-inspired. I'm simply having fun with it. It's called political humor. For those offended by it, are you any better than those Muslims offended by a cartoon of Mohammed?
I think it depends on where you live in each country. $75K in Northern VA, DMV-area is not the same as $75K in Iowa. $75K a year and single in VA might work if you don't have children and/or a spouse to support. Each spouse would have to make $75K each to truly be satisfied in superficial northern VA. I love Virginia and I grew up here but it annoys me how superficial and stuck up everyone is. Honestly, I don't even think people would be happy with $75K. I know people who make $100K a year and they are still angry at the world and arrogant.
You're right on the "money" JaevisMom. (pun intended) I'd Like to say..."it's all relative" but the truth is, IT'S NOT. What makes someone feel financially relevant is hardwired in their brain. As a stay at home mom raising three children while my devoted husband works 60 hours a week just to make end meet makes me feel gratetful. I'm gratetful that I get to be at home cooking and cleaning for my husband and children and being there for them when they arrive home from school helping with homework. To be an ear to their endless teenage rants and to offer advice when needed. We moved from California to North Carolina 5 years ago. The cost of living was much higher in Cali however the pay was higher. We "rent" a very modest 1400 sq. ft. home (the kind your children are embarrassed to invite their friends to) in comparison with the multi-million dollar homes that surround us. But I hold my head up high because I serve a higher purpose. One that does not judge me based on my income but on my character and how I treat others. This is an invaluable lesson which I will continue to saturate in the minds of my children. Money does not make one happy.
Money can't make you happy on it's own... but lack of it can make you sad by itself.
No wonder I am so happy! :)
Damn, My mom raised my brother and I making $19,000 as a Walmart employee. She owned a house, gave us clothes on our back, and supplied food for us. She worked hard and did not utilize the system. My brother works for operational intelligence for the AF and I will have my DPT in August. It comes down to family and how you can pull together to be functional. If my mother can do it on her own, I can't imagine what that money would have done to us. I probably would not be who I am today.
Ummm, how did she buy a home making 19K per year? I mean, I have to ask. i work with a mortgage company and regardless of her credit score, who would give her a loan??? That is not enough to even justify paying a monthly premium of $500/month on a home. How did she get approved????
By saving money and putting down 50% for a modest home. I've seen it done back in 60s where people would sometimes pay cash for the $25,000 2 bdrm house in San Francisco no less!
Somebody turning tricks on the side.
How long ago was that?
And how much child support and alimony did she get to supplement that $19k income? What's that? She never mentioned that? Yeah, most "single mothers" neglect to include that when crying about how poor they are.
$161,000? LMAO --
My husband I live off of less than $25,000 year in retirement --- no debts except our mortgage -- and we're happy. We love one another and are content not to have all the latest gadgets and multiple computers, televisions or cars. We drive a 14 year old car. We are living according to our means and are quite content. Thank you
That's good for you. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be happy with that standard of living myself. I want to travel, drive a nice car, and really enjoy the fruits of my career... I work too hard not to.
I'm glad you added LMAO - I thought you were serious when I first read your post!
That explains why my wife accuses me of being cranky all the time, I must be unhappy and wasn't aware of it.
I've never made more than $112,000.00 a year, (and that was in my last 6 years of working), and that's working for at least 45 years, I'm 61, but, I've managed to build a custom house in 2006, cash money, paid off acres of land, and live pretty good on a pension of high 5 figures. Good investments helped me along the way, I've had good fun growing up, but I always played by my own rules, not try to keep up with the "Jones's."
House paid for, land paid for, 3 cars paid for, no debt at all except living expenses, and I feel good, WAY BELOW a million bucks, but I understand, if you've got to impress your friends, and keep up with the Jones's, you'll always need more.
Some of us are not trying to impress our friends and keep up with the Jones'. Some of us are working hard and helping out friends and family along the way. Which in a sense is morally good. In your book however, I bet you think it makes bad financial sense to help others. Rather keep every dime you make in your pocket. Help no one but yourself. And you to can build your own home and pay it off and live for me, me, me. If I had your choice of being a dried up old meiser with a paid for home or helping family and friends and struggling sometime but being wealthy with loved ones around for the rest of my live, I would chose my family.
I guess I hit a nerve. Are you trying to keep up with the Jones's, or, just a bit jealous?
I didn't feel it necessary to tell everything, but believe me, this "old meiser" volunteers 3 days a week at a food kitchen, my most relevent charity is "Feed the Children," I have a few other places I give time and money to also. So, it's NOT about me, me, me, but helping those less fortunate, as I do. Now, on a personal note, I have two daughters who are RN's, one daughter who is a FNP, all three have husbands who are medical professionals themselves, so as a whole, my family has done very well including taking care of, and helping those in need.
Now get off your high horse.
With your custom house, land, cars and investments, your entire net worth must be close to or over a million bucks. That's what the article was saying - that Americans say they feel wealthy if they have a net worth of a million. Not a million per year in income. At $116,000 per year, you were making about 2.5 x the median income, so I wouldn't necessarily say you were "only" making $116k.
116K per year isn't a lot, especially for the final few years of a long career--the guy obviously saved and wasn't going out buying expensive cars and plasma tvs, and maxing out credit cards. A lot of people make 100K/year and are broke. lol, most people who make that much are broke!
starfox7000, it's not an either/or. Statistically, being wealthy and having a happy, successful family go together. The self-discipline, careful planning, and delayed gratification that goes into becoming wealthy serves people well in all areas of their lives.
Wow, your comment is so condescending and arrogant, how to respond?
First off, most people (like me) who are from a younger generation will not get a "high 5 figure pension", or any pension at all, for that matter. If we want money in retirement, we have to save a large percentage of our income (I save ~14% of what I earn), leaving less to live off of or use to pay for things like cars and houses. Also, housing costs (and corresponding rent rates) are a *lot* higher now than 20 years ago, so it is more difficult to save enough to buy. Finally, while I have made more than $112,000 in my life at various times, I have never made significantly more than that, and more often far less.
And I notice you do not mention spouse or children. I lost most of what I had worked for at 39 when I got divorced, paid child support for 10 years, and am now putting a child through college. Nevertheless, now that my kids are grown and I live alone, I find I have a lot more to save and invest. Oh, and I live in NE, where money does not go as far as ... where did you say you live again?
Didn't anyone read the most important aspect of the story. Germany did not need as much to gain happiness. That is because their wealth is more evenly distributed. So that will keep cost down and the affordability of living expenses modest. I lived in Germany for 6 years. It was a cultural shift for me living in a small village where the stores closed at 1pm on Saturday and did not open at all on Sundays. Everyone was out enjoying life. Not working, not shopping. Living and enjoying friends and family. And now we are seeing how Germany is one of the most financially responsible countries in the EU. Big surprise.
So what point is the GOP trying to make with letting the rich get richer so they can eventually own EVERYTHING on the planet?? What kind of common sense does that make??
Everyone was out enjoying life. Not working,
You seem to be sending mixed signals there.
American greed is killing this country, from people like Trump, Romney, MCain, and the rest of the multi-millionaire/billionaires who believe they are entitled to more, like corporate welfare.
There's also a law in Germany telling you how many rooms you need depending on your family size.
Do you speak/read German?
http://www.zuwanderung.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Themen/MigrationIntegration/AsylZuwanderung/AufenthG_VwV.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
Basically, every member of the family over six has to have twelve square meters of living space, members between two and six need ten square meters, members under two years old are exempt from the regulation. In addition they must be able to share kitchen, bathing and other facilities.
Personally, I consider 45 square meters for two adults and a growing toddler inadequate because the kid is going to get bigger and, as pointed out above, need a room of its own.
Actually I lived In Germany, in Duisburg-Röttgersbach, in a typical "Flat," consisting of 50m, very few Americans would call that sufficient, so for our greedy millionaire/billionaire Americans who need 45k+ square foot homes for two people, and people building 3500 s/f homes and above who can't afford them, that's not good at all, but either way, go ahead, live your life, and don't worry about me, my family, or my charitable contributions, we are all doing fine.
Have a good night, and a good life.
I speak German and live in Germany now. The numbers you are referring to are minimum requirements. If a family can't afford that minimum, they get help. These are not 'laws' and are not boundaries that cannot be surpassed.
I grew up in Germany and lived there most of my life. The room size allotments etc are for government subsidized housing, which there is a lot of, and which is pretty cheap. My parents still live in a large one-bedroom apartment in Berlin for$400 euros which includes heat and water. They chose to live there because they qualify as retirees and it saves them money. However, there are plenty of bigger places on the market which they can get, but don't want to spend the money on. So don't make it sound like people are forced to live in tiny quarters, that's plain wrong.
Sorry dude -- I've lived in Germany too and have a lot of friends and family there. Trust me, they live in bigger houses/flats.
However, there isn't a need, at least amongst my friends/family, to have McMansions either.
These story's are pure B.S......... For the top 5% which includes high paid government workers and politicians, this maybe right, and University people. The largest group of people, most of us never made more than $60,000 a year in our lives, and that in the later years. Between $10,000 and $40,000 Thu our middle years. Just now when I am 73, you are telling me I have been unhappy all my life. Kiss off, you would not know happiness, if it up and hit you in the butt. Just greed, no wonder your children are on drugs, because there is no love at home.
Another case of FUZZY Math folks. Just a ploy to make a case to raise taxes, and lower S/S, Medicare and VA benefits for those that actually earned it. Got to feed those greedy politicians more PORK!!!!!! NOT!!!!
The author didn't provide the most basic of information, namely were the amounts before or after taxes?
Net Income, which would thusly mean "after taxes".
What is needed is to expand the LIVNG WAGE LAWS that have been started.
Yes, if I'm considering dropping out of high school, I need to know I will not suffer financially for the decision.
I'm 16 and I will behave in such a way that I father 3 children before I am 19. My Living Wage requirement with 3 dependents will be $30/hr. I'm not planning on furthering my education or qualifications in any way, because my Living Wage determines my income, not my skills or lack thereof.
I need a Living Wage because I can't live with the inevitable, natural outcome of my choices, and my complete lack of any concrete actions to better myself. It's cruel. Oh that the government would make others pay me more than I'm worth.
A LIVING WAGE LAW is already in place in several states. One place that has a LIVING WAGE LAW is at the Los Angeles Airport area, for hotel workers & the hotels are still doing business & making money as usual but now these workers can pay more taxes, support their families & can contribute to the U.S. economy as consumers. This will help get the economy going, with their consumer spending, since businesses are still clamoring for consumer spending (retail sales). Consumers are 70% of the economy & are JOB CREATORS. . "If all businesses paid a Universal Living Wage, we could reduce the tax burden on every single American!"
I understand your well-intentioned idea of the lower economic classes as consumers, but paying the bottom x% an above-market wage will make the market for labor less efficient, making the entire income "pie" smaller for Americans. It will do this through job layoffs and inflation for lower-priced goods and services.
But you don't really have to take my word for it. The market generally sets the most efficient price for wages. Minimum wage points need to interfere with market forces as little as possible.
I made minimum wage for a couple years while I was putting myself through school. It's not easy to live on it!!! For a few people, it's as high as they'll go in life, and I think those people are good targets for government aid and help in life.
But the vast majority of minimum wage earners need to look at the wage as a "stage" in their career development, as I did, before they go on to make more. I'm all about supporting government programs that promote this type of education.
I guess what I'm trying to say is minimum wage sucks, but serves a necessary purpose in the job market.
My income is less than @12K a year, and I've never been happier. I replaced all the major appliances, furnace, AC before I retired. Since, I've replaced my windows and patio door. I own my home, and feel very secure... And extremely happy... It's been such a good life... But 3 wonderful sons attribute to that too... and their babies! Life is good in KC on very little cash..
That is fine unless your forced into retirement from a back injury. It's up hill from then on out, and we are talking mountain climbing!
I hope you never get sick and have an expense that insurance won't cover... $1K/mo is scary.
Happiness is a state of mind .Their are some people who are perfectly happy living in the streets homeless . Now I know what your thinking and I said some ,not all homeless people are happy .Just as not all rich people are happy We all have our weaknesses and our strengths The rich and the poor amongst us who can face life cheerfully have fortitude [ strong character ] and those who can only face life dismally are weak and selfish and that is because all they can do is think about themselves and not about how others may be affected by their negativity and constant frowns
"Happiness is a state of mind .Their are some people who are perfectly happy living in the streets homeless."
No, there really aren't.
The question is not how much income or wealth one needs. It is "How Much is Enough"? It should not be about culture or context. It should be about personal values. How does one define "The Good Life"? For a great discussion of these questions see Robert and Edward Skidelsky's excellent book, "How Much Is Enough: Money and The Good Life."
Thanks, Mr. Skidelsky.
Please include the ISBN in your next post.
Having done research on the motivating affect of money for a graduate class, it is the lack of money that makes you unhappy. Not having enough money to cover your basic expenses (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) is very stressful and makes one unhappy. For these individuals, the opportunity to obtain more money is extremely motivating. So, in reality, money does not buy happiness, but it is the lack of money that is stressful and leads to uphappiness.
Did that graduate class teach you the difference between "affect" and "effect"?
Yup... My bad... Affect is a verb and effect is a noun... I haven't had my morning coffee... So, the brain is still waking up...
Dubai is a CITY not a COUNTRY. Kind of makes this whole thing pointless? Of course there are going to be dramatic variations in data if you compare single cities to populations of entire countries. Geography much?
Actually, the Dubai referred to is an EMIRATE and constitutional monarchy with its own ruler (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoumand). It is part of the United Arab Emirates. It contains the CITY of Dubai.
" I don't care to much for Money,Money can't buy me Love".
where does it say what US residents want annually? It says $1M to the "feel wealthy" but does not show the annual income answer in the text or the graph.
Germans drink more beer and beer = happiness ;-)
Having a high income is real nice, but having no real debt and freedom from an intrusive Government is nice also.
Thee is Shocked! Totally shocked!! Thee thought all women everywhere ( 'cept Rosie, natch )loved and respected The Donald. Ah, well, such is life....