Money Vs Happiness

The money vs happiness debate has gone on for decades.

I will round up various peoples opinions on various topics like:

• How you make your money, is more important than how much you make?
• Money is important for happiness debate?
• Should I choose a job for money?
• Why you should choose a high paying job over a fun job?
• Lower paying job but happier
• Which is more important: money or happiness?
• Which is more important, making money or managing money?

There is many more questions and debates around the whole subject on money vs happiness. Or let us dive in.

What The Experts Say

Reading an article with one person’s opinion on such a huge debate is not good practice.

So I have rounded up what some of the biggest influencers say with regards to dealing with cash, your time and happiness.

Gary Vaynerchuk

If anyone does not know Gary Vaynerchuk then he is a multipreneur owning a lot of high-value businesses globally.

He regularly talks about integrity in how you make money and well known for this quote.

“How you make your money is more important than how much you make”

Gary always talks about loving competition in his niches but will always compete ethically and with integrity to make money.

Gary uses the word hustle a lot and says “Hustle is a word that represents working hard and smart, competitively. Doing whatever it takes to ethically succeed”

Bill Gates

When someone asked Bill Gates who was the richest man in the world – “Is there anyone richer than you in the world?”

His response shocked the nation:

Yes, there is a person who is richer than me. A newspaper vendor from New York. He gave me free newspapers when I was poor and I tried to return the favour and offer him anything he wants as a thank you. The newspaper vendor declined. That day I realised that the newspaper vendor is richer than me because he didn’t wait to become rich to help someone. People need to understand that the truly rich are those who possess a rich heart rather than lots of money. It’s really very important to have a rich heart to help others.

The real richness is not the number on your bank balance but your health and heart.

Richard Branson

Fulfilment does not come from material possessions, billionaire Richard Branson said, claiming he never set out to make money.

“Fortunately, early on in my life, I realized that personal ‘stuff’ really didn’t matter. I truly believe that ‘stuff’ really does not bring happiness. It’s a common misconception that money is every entrepreneur’s metric for success. It’s not, and nor should it be. I’ve never gone into business to make money. Investing in solutions to (world) issues and time with my family makes me happier and more satisfied than monetary investments or ‘stuff’ ever could.”

No matter what you have achieved in life, you should always feel there is more to be done.

Success is a moving target — it’s about striving to continue growing, but also appreciating what you have at the moment.

FAQs

Taking on board what the experts say and experiencing a whole host of life lessons here is my personal thoughts:

Is how you make your money more important than how much you make?

How you make money is important than the amount you make.

Working with honest, trust and integrity in business is crucial to a happy life.

Making money in solutions to world issues or which helps others is a far more satisfying method to make money.

Money is important for happiness debate?

Money certainly does not buy you happiness.

But money can help fund happy memories and experiences you might have not been able to do without the cashflow.

Happiness is a reward we give ourselves as we achieve the goals we set ourselves. Goals are anything and everything that is important to you.

A study done on lottery winners validated proof around money not being a key to being happy.

But there is no doubt that money can open up doors to experiences you might not have been able to afford.

Should I choose a job for money?

Yes, you should choose a job for money if you are looking to save, invest and build your career.

However, the importance to life is happiness and if your better-paid job does not yield more happiness you need to set our a career plan.

Your career plan might still mean short term you choose a job based on the money earned, but you have clear goals to have this as a stepping stone to a happier and more fulfilling role.

Why you should choose a high paying job over a fun job?

You should choose a high paying job over a fun job if you want to build your career and finances for investment.

The holy grail is having a high paying job which is fun but this is hard to come across.

Over time though make sure you are not just solely choosing money over happiness because you spend one-third of your life in the workplace so make sure you have career plans to get into a vacancy you will enjoy long term.

Lower paying job but happier

If you have a lower-paying job but happier in your life then that is great.

Sacrifices sometimes need to be made when growing your assets and finances so it is a balancing act between your career growth and happiness.

Times in your life hard work, graft, sweat and tears are needed for longer-term goals and aspirations.

Which is more important: money or happiness?

Happiness is 100% more important than money.

People look to earn money to create a happier life and money can open doors to having more happy experiences.

You find some people with the most basic of lives always smiling and happy within themselves.

Life is balancing many plates but all the plates should be trying to spin the happiness plate the most.

Which is more important, making money or managing money?

The importance of making money vs managing money depends on the scale.

For the working class making money is more important.

As you earn more significantly, managing money is the most important.

Management of your finances is crucial and investments are important to managing your cashflow.

James Dooley

Entrepreneur

James Dooley is an entrepreneur with a strong track record in digital marketing and AI technology. Leveraging his SEO skills, James Dooley has invested in and built a large digital real estate empire.