Lie: Money Can Buy Happiness

Money is very directly correlated with happiness up to a baseline level of needs (food, shelter, etc.).

Beyond that level, there are clear diminishing returns to the happiness derived from each incremental dollar.

In some cases, there is negative utility from an incremental dollar as it adds new stress ("mo money, mo problems" right?).

The key is to identify:

• Your current state of income, wealth, and happiness.
• The "happiness return" on an incremental dollar earned. How much happier will you be from an additional $X? Separate the ego and emotion from the question to think about it objectively.