Does happiness have a price? For a majority of Americans, the answer is yes — but it doesn’t come cheap.
About 6 in 10 of Americans believe money can buy happiness, according to a new poll from financial services firm Empower. Yet to achieve happiness through financial means, most people say they’d need a significant raise, as well as a big chunk of money in the bank.
Median household income in the U.S. stands at about $74,000 annually, but respondents told Empower that they’d need to earn roughly $284,000 each year to achieve happiness.
And as for wealth, Americans said they’d need even more in the bank to feel content: $1.2 million, to be exact, the poll found. Many people are wealthier than they were a few years ago, thanks to the rise in real estate and stock market values, yet the median net worth of U.S. households stood at $192,900 in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve.
I thought the millennial aspirations were a bit extreme, but as a millennial I get it. We had the Great Recession, outrageous prices for college, home prices are out of control.
And I say this as a millennial doing well. We don’t even think about money day to day or paycheck to paycheck, and are saving enough to largely minimize or potentially mitigate our kids needing student loans. But I am still strategically thinking about money and what will happen when the next recession or financial calamity hits, or hyper-inflation wiping us out.
The cost to live has been trying to outrun our income our entire adult lives, so sure, fuck it, double our income then maybe we have a chance to sleep at night even when it’s going well.