How Money ACTUALLY Makes You Happy

Don’t tell me you really believe the “money can’t buy you happiness” rubbish that goes around.

If you do, you’re going to want to read this.

There are a lot of stereotypes surrounding money, which aren’t true.

• “Money won’t make you happy.”

• “Money is the root of all evil.”

• “Money won’t solve your problems.”

I’m living experience that all of these are rubbish, and in truth, money has got me out of some pretty dark places.

How? One simple reason.

I knew what to do with it.

And that’s why I started writing about it.

What Won’t Make You Happy

The reason these remarks get thrown around is for a few reasons.

1. It gives the unproductive an excuse to live in cruise control.

2. People don’t understand what money can buy you. In other words, a lack of financial literacy.

The first reason is self explanatory. Let me expand on the second point.

Statistics show that around 70% of lottery winners end up broke.

Millions. To ZERO.

How?

It’s an education-based problem.

When someone who lacks financial education is presented with a huge sum of money, they think of one thing. And one thing only.

Material goods. Or worse yet, LIABILITIES.

• The super car.

• The parties.

• The jewellery.

• The endless luxury vacations.

Next thing you know, your net worth is plummeting.

And the worst thing of all, none of it has made you any happier.

If anything, it’s made you less happy, as your expectations were so much higher.

So, how does money buy happiness?

It buys happiness when you prioritise the intangibles over the materials.

What Money Can Buy

What if I told you that money can buy things that you can’t touch.

• Time.

• Freedom.

• Happiness.

I’ve read stories of lottery winners who’ve had to go back to work because all their money ran out so quickly.

Imagine the feeling of winning millions.

Only to be back in the same spot 20 years later.

Insane.

So the problem lies within two things.

1. Human psychology.

2. Financial education.

Human psychology — how many people know what they actually want from life?

Financial education — how many people are able to use money to get what they want?

There’s something wired within us to believe that:

• The fastest car.

• The biggest house.

• The shiniest watch.

Is what will make us happy.

Why? Who knows.

But, truth be told, this isn’t how it works.

Instead, it’s the things that you can’t touch that really has the biggest positive impact.

• Complete control of your time and movements.

• Peace of mind and no stress.

• Not being told what to do, where to be etc.

• Financial freedom. Time freedom. Location freedom.

These are where your priorities should be, and money gets you there.

Here’s how.

Buying Happiness With Money

Money works in levels of transactions.

Confused? Let me explain.

Say you’re buying a material good. A new car, for example.

You’re taking your money with it, and buying something tangible.

Money → Car = 1 transaction.

Buying intangibles requires multiple levels of transactions.

In other words, it’s a longer journey to take, which is why people can’t see it.

Buying time/freedom/happiness with money isn’t a direct purchase.

Let me give you an example.

Say you want to invest your money into assets to free up your time. This is so you can spend more time doing what you enjoy.

Dividend stocks, for passive income. A great place to start.

Using income to buy income.

• ✅ Human psychology — you know what you want.

• ✅ Financial education — you know how to get there.

The transactions from money to happiness will be multi-layer, and will go a bit like this:

Money → Dividends & Income → Time → Happiness = Multiple levels.

As opposed to:

Money → New car.

Money → New house.

Money → New watch.

The key is figuring out what will truly make you happy.

The Key To Buying Happiness With Money.

I want to emphasise the two factors you need to know to be able to buy happiness with money.

What will make you happy.

Will it be the flash car, the shiny watch & the big house?

Or will it be the peace of mind and freedom to travel the world and never have to take orders from other people again?

Only you know.

Forget what everyone else says. Forget what social media says you should do. Forget what your parents want you to do.

What is it that YOU want.

How to get there.

Financial education, as always, is becoming increasingly valuable given the direction society is heading.

That’s why they’ll never teach it in schools.

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