One of their funnier demotivators shows a castle-style mansion with lovely landscaping surrounding a beautiful pond.
The caption under it?
“Wealth: All I Ask for Is a Chance to Prove that Money Can’t Buy Happiness.”
In general, more money brings you 3 benefits:- You have more security against financial catastrophes.- You can say “No” to more things you don’t want.- You can say “Yes” to more things you want.
More money lets you survive such financial calamities.And, no, there’s no downside to this benefit (unless you take stupid risks because of the sense of security).
In this regard, more money just runs your hedonic treadmill faster and faster, without higher long-term happiness. It just costs more to be as happy as you were before.
Since the increased happiness from spending more money is temporary, and it puts you at greater risk of poverty (especially in retirement if you run out of money), you need to do something different.
More money offers greater security, greater freedom/control, and a way to improve your standard of living. However, that last comes with a big downside, that you have to take into account and mitigate.