Despite what our accounting and banking friends tell us, money is not the root of all happiness.

Matthew Killingsworth of the University of Pennsylvania has debunked a popular myth that there is no effect of money on happiness beyond $75,000 per year, but he did confirm a law of diminishing returns.

The positive effects of money quickly level off. We need to keep doubling our income to get the same happiness boost. But after we double a few million dollars a few times, our happiness meter taps out.

Yes, there’s a gain in happiness when our net worth rises above $8 million. But the effect is small, roughly half as large as the happiness boost from being married.

Don’t look for happiness in working for a living. Many of us work far too hard at jobs with people we don’t like.

Work is our second-most-miserable activity. How miserable? Of forty activities, only being sick in bed makes people less happy than working. When people are nudged to quit their jobs their happiness increases.

Social media? Not so happy. Of twenty-seven leisure activities, social media ranks dead last in how much happiness it brings.

What makes us happiest is sex, exercise and gardening. We get a big happiness boost from being with a romantic partner or friends but not from other people, like colleagues, children or acquaintances.

Weather plays only a small role in happiness. Except we do get a hearty mood boost on extraordinary days, such as those above 75 degrees and sunny.

We’re consistently happier when we’re out in nature, particularly near a body of water, especially when the scenery is beautiful.

When we can see the promised land.

When we can chase our cares away.

References

“The rich are not who we think they are. And happiness is not what we think it is, either.” The New York Times (2022)

“Happiness is greater in natural environments” Global Environmental Change (2013)