Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
I can't remember where. The point of the article was that going from dying of starvation to eating a meal a day greatly improves happiness. Going from eating a meal a day to having three a day and a roof and clothing improves happiness quite a bit. Going from that to having TV, radio, internet, a car, etc. can slightly improve happiness, but it soon tapers off from there. A millionaire isn't going to be millions of times happier than a guy that makes a median wage in the USA.
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If I remember correctly peak happiness happens about double median income. You have more than the people around you (people judge relative wealth not actual wealth) and have the basics taken care of with some money left over to have fun.
My personal experience about matches but I'd say peak happiness is even lower - about 150% of the median household income. That may also be because my wife and I don't live extravagant lives - we have been pretty good at avoiding lifestyle creep. Our lifestyle plateaued about a decade ago and now more income just means more money flowing to investments. That was also about the time we had FU levels of savings so job stress greatly diminished.