Do you wanna be rich or happy?

Soldato
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Interesting article. Personally I can identify with some of the points raised.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-2016859,00.html

Chasing wealth can make you ill and earning over £25,000 a year won’t make you any happier. Who says so? An investment banker, reports


True happiness, said Bob Monkhouse, is when you marry a girl for love and later discover that she has money. We all appreciate the joke, of course, because though one side of us knows that a loving relationship provides a good chance of happiness the other thinks it would be guaranteed if that relationship made us rich as well.
Yet study after study shows that money fails to buy happiness. Incomes have increased threefold in Britain since 1950 but contentment levels have barely shifted. European research indicates that lottery winners revert to their previous levels of happiness within a year of their windfall. One look at the permanently sullen face of the multi- millionairess Victoria Beckham appears to prove the point.



A new report goes further and suggests that chasing wealth might even make you mentally ill. Paranoia, narcissism and attention deficit disorders are just some of the afflictions more likely to dog you if you pursue purely materialistic goals, it says.

(continues)
 
Wise Guy
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I've made comments that broadly echo the sentiments in that article several times, on this board. To my mind, the report is broadly right. Money does not guarantee happiness, though lack of money can certainly be a route to misery.

But, as that article points out, and so have I (including in the thread about winning the EuroLottery), with wealth comes raised expectations. If you aren't careful, all having money means is that you find yourself running harder on the same treadmill, either to remain wealthy or to get whatever it is you want and can't afford .... and until you get to very great wealth indeed, there'll always something just out of reach, something to aspire to.

After meeting basic needs, money should most be sought for what it enables you do do, not what it will buy, and even then, there's usually a price to pay for chasing money. Make sure the price isn't too high. Workaholics have been known to achieve career success, only to find they've wrecked their marriage and/or home life. I wonder if they felt it was worth it?
 
Man of Honour
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I think this quote by George Gissing is quite revealing - “Time is money says the proverb, but turn it around and you get a precious truth. Money is time.”. Obviously money alone can't bring you happiness in the same way that your possessions, your partner or your job can't bring you happiness. They can all contribute to your overall feeling of well-being but it is something about you yourself rather than any other factor. One of the best things money can afford you is the time to pursue whatever you want to do in life.
 
Associate
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It's my opinion, that to gain true wealth through success and hard work, you have to be unhappy.

So, personally? happy.
But that doesn't mean that I can't climb the career ladder, as this makes me happy too :)
 
Soldato
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I love these articles which claim they know exactly how millionaires feel.
At this moment i want to be rich, been poor for long enough now.
 
Associate
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i'd settle for getting by and being with the women i love than being stinking rich and having so many hangers on the lines between reality and complete lunacy get blurred.
 
Associate
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No i would rather be happy, because when you are happy you dont care if your rich or not, but when you are rich you just want to be richer! I prefer to be happy so i dont have a care in the world.
 
Soldato
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Blue Cypher said:
No i would rather be happy, because when you are happy you dont care if your rich or not, but when you are rich you just want to be richer! I prefer to be happy so i dont have a care in the world.

and then the real world steps in..

If you were happy enough to not have a care in the world, that would mean you were rich enough not to have to worry about money and the problems involved.
 
Soldato
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I'm happy to be rich :D

Seriously, I'd feel a lot more relaxed with a comfortable wage.
If I didn't have any money troubles I'd be less stressed and
most of my problems stem from too much stress.

I imagine I'd be far happy with a fat wallet :p
 
Soldato
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I'm poor by most people's definations but in an ideal world I would like to have enough money to pay my bills and have a few luxuries (which with a lot of overtime I am managing right now) and be happy (which I'm not right now)

Obviously being rich (and thats without overtime) life would be easier and I'd have a chance to make myself happier.

I'm still torn - I want to be happy but being rich would be nice. After all, I doubt anyone would say they want to be poor!
 
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