According to a recent study focusing on 450,000 Americans, a $75,000 yearly salary is the magic number after which people’s day-to-day happiness no longer improves. This study was conducted by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Anhgus Deaton.
Here is an excerpt about the study from The Wall Street Journal:
It turns out there is a specific dollar number, or income plateau, after which more money has no measurable effect on day-to-day contentment. The magic income is $75,000 a year. As people earn more money, their day-to-day happiness rises until you hit $75,000. After that, it is just more stuff, with no gain in happiness. That doesn’t mean wealthy and ultra wealthy are equally happy. More money does boost people’s life assessment, all the way up the income ladder. People who earned $160,000 a year, for instance, reported more overall satisfaction than people earning $120,000 and so on.
So, according to this study, someone making $80,000 a year is just as happy as someone that makes $280,000 a year. I know money can take away some worries but it alone does not lead to happiness. I recently had the chance to give a financial presentation for my church. In doing research for this talk, I wanted to see what jobs were the most satisfying. Here is that list along with the average salary:
- Clergy $53,200
- Firefighter $44,504
- Physical Therapist $66,628
- Author $51,909
- Teacher $41,193
- Education Administration $66,061
- Artist $51,378
- Psychologist $78,967
- Security and Financial Services $62,385
- Operating Engineer $67,200
It is so interesting to see that only one of these jobs pays more than $75,00 a year. Even though these careers don’t pay a lot, they are very rewarding. Most of these careers are also callings. Most people get into them because they have a passion for it first and foremost. When you are doing something because you feel that is what you should be doing it makes for a very rewarding life. You may not have the biggest house or drive the nicest car but you get to go to a job that is gratifying. That is PRICELESS.
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