When you look back to when you were 25, could you have guessed you'd be making as much money, or be as wealthy, as you are today?
Back then, you'd probably have thought someone making as much as you is rich!… But are you? Do you feel rich?
If you stopped working today, would you be able to retire and do anything you want? No? Why is that? Why are high-earners still no happier than when they were just making a modest living?
As John D. Rockefeller is quoted say, when asked when is enough, enough?, he said, "Just one dollar more…"
John D. Rockefeller… One of the richest guys in American history. The guy who's name is on buildings from New York to San Francisco…. "Just one dollar more".
I don't know about you but that doesn't exactly scream "happy" or "content" to me. To clarify, I don't use the words "content" or "contentment" to signify complacency. Quite the contrary! I'm a capitalist. In my upper 40s, I get giddy at the thought of how big of an impact I can have in the lives of others.
This begs the question… "How much is enough?" At what stage does our emotional well-being plateau?
According to a 2010 nation-wide survey, lead by Nobel Peace Prize recipients Daniel Kahneman & Angus Deaton out of Princeton University of more than 450,000 responses to a Gallup poll on health & well-being - the magic number is approximately $75,000 per year.
There's a correlation between income and emotional well-being, but this stops around $75k.
This means, you feel better when you go from $40K to $50K, and $60K to $70K, but once you hit that $75K mark, it's basically a wash. Everything after $75,000 per year is diminishing returns.
Why is that? 75 racks doesn't seem really seem like all that much to me. And more than likely, you surpassed that mark years ago.
Ask yourself, is your life really all that much better now than back then? Do you feel richer?
When 70% of lottery winners go broke within 5 years of hitting the jackpot, can we really say that the lack of money was their problem?
Sure, money goes a lot further in Des Moines, Iowa or Indianapolis than in New York or California, so this number is just an average, but the fact of the of matter is that at some point, money does not provide any more value to us emotionally.
So, should we go back to making $75,000 a year? Hell no! But, that also doesn't mean we should just go buy more stuff.
3 Steps To Increasing Emotional Well-Being Beyond The Money
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