As the adage goes – “money won’t buy happiness.” And while the argument may never end, author Arthur Brooks says financial security will make you less unhappy. The author of “Build the Life You Want” joined TheStreet to explain how financial security might not be the source of happiness, but it can’t certainly alleviate some stress.
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Full Video Transcript Below:
CONWAY GITTENS: So is there a role for financial security in the pursuit of happiness?
ARTHUR BROOKS: There absolutely is. Why? Because financial security per se makes it possible for you to avoid a lot of the sources of unhappiness. And this is one of the mistakes that we often make. We think if I get more financial security, I’ll be happier. No, you’ll be less unhappy. And the problem is that it doesn’t take that much to be financially secure.
I mean, it takes more than a few bucks. But the whole point is that when you’re able to avoid normal sources of stress, like paying your rent, taking care of your kids, that kind of security, it avoids tons of unhappiness in your life. Then you can actually focus on the things that really matter to you, like spending time with those kids that you’re trying to get financial viability to support more reliably.
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CONWAY GITTENS: And so what are some of the common myths that you come across when you’re dealing with this topic of money and happiness?
ARTHUR BROOKS: The number one is that, you know, people talk about money and happiness. It’s actually really money is more related to unhappiness than it is to happiness. And money really can lower your unhappiness, which is one of the most important things that we can do as a society, is to make sure that people have access to the basic services so we can get rid of these normal worries that they have. That’s really important.
The second thing is that they notice in their lives a lot of young people, for example, when they make money for the first time, that they feel better. And so the result is they chase that feeling for the rest of their lives. Like, I don’t know, I made $20,000 a year and it was really under a lot of pressure. And then I made 40 and I felt better. So therefore, if I go to 200,000 to 400,000, I’m going to feel the same. And it doesn’t work that way because you’re not eliminating the sources of unhappiness in the same way that you were when you were at lower income levels.
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