“Although a large body of research does show that people become happier as they move from being very poor to lower middle class, after this point the impact of income on happiness is much weaker. Think of someone who makes $100,000 one year and $110,000 the next—do we really expect this additional income to suddenly make this person fulfilled, without a care in the world? (You can also think about whether such changes in your own income really make you happier with your life on a day-to-day basis: Being informed about a raise certainly makes us happy, but the $10,000 doesn’t make our siblings or in-laws any less difficult to deal with over the course of the following year. …) Although people believe that having money leads to happiness, our research suggests that this is only the case if at least some of that money is given to others.” Via HBS

I feel like money can’t buy you love; however, in the United States, where everything is dependent on cash-in-hand, money does buy you rest, calm, security, and health. In my new home, Berlin, money isn’t a number-one priority because there are social services — a safety net — that takes that baseline level of “what would I do if I lost my insurance/home/car/job feeling that constantly is renting space in all of our heads. Sadly, in America, money is all there is. Cash is the only currency. Social programs are under-funded, neglected, and shameful to actually use.  We’re in a country that considers any sort of public funding, subsidies, or support to be part and parcel of a “nanny state,” considered to be a bad thing in this land of the rugged, boot-strapped, self-made, capitalistic, individualist.  So, while money can’t buy me love, it can get me married, can subsidize a family, education, insurance, vacations, time off, rest, travel, schools, colleges, cars, medical care, unforeseen expenses, and the kinds of safety next that only money can buy.

Poll: How Much Do You Need to Live Comfortably?