New research shows you need to earn $175k in aus and $135k in the US to be happy

[mcdojo]

Brutal moneypill, no wonder most miscers seem miserable and have to cope that $100k is a lot of money. JFL.

They say you can’t buy happiness – but it turns out money can help prevent you from being unhappy.
According to research from money and investment education platform Expensivity earning exactly $174,800 per year will stop you from becoming unhappy in Australia.

The six-figure sum made us the second most expensive country in the world when it comes to buying happiness, with Bermuda – which has the world’s highest cost of living – in the top spot.

Happiness is cheapest in the petite South American country of Suriname. However, the local happiness premium of $6799 is still out of reach for those making the average Surinamese income of $5500.

Building on research originally conducted by US university Purdue, which found the price tag for happiness in America stands at $135,500, the Expensivity study calculated the ‘happiness premium’ for every country in the world using Purchasing Power ratios sourced from the World Bank and the local cost of living.

Australia and New Zealand both have a happiness price tag that runs into the hundreds of thousands.

Happiness in our closest neighbouring countries, Fiji and Samoa, can be found at salaries of $73,392 and $101,104 respectively.

Further afield, but popular for Aussie expats, a salary of $59,416 can buy you happiness in Singapore.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/mone...b74efe58dc26d9

[tk217]

135K where exactly in the US? Is this an average?

[Ellmser]

thats per household

[AdamWW]

I’m set then. Cool

[sapdori]

Can confirm. My brother is a dentist and makes $400k a year and he seems pretty happy.

Gets hit on by his patients plenty of times too.

[cavillac]

If that is gross salary a year I would agree with that

[gottalottastick]

you can live fine off 50k in the U.S. (srs)

[Gringo12]

My standards are pretty high, I'm on 150k a year now and I doubt I'd be any happier at 170k

[r32gojirra]

Must be after-tax for au

[aherpderp]

cant be happy if you arent getting laid, so that seems about right after factoring in chadflation

[imbeingcereal]

Sounds about right to me. $100K isn't poverty, but it's not that much money in most major cities since rent and healthcare costs have increased so damn much. If you max out your 401K, there's legit not that much left over at $100K after basic expenses, even if you're in cities that used to be considered cheap in the early 2000s, like Charlotte, ATL, etc. My goal is to make at least $150K in a MCOL area, $200K+ if I get stuck in a really expensive place like NYC

[Cr45]

Can confirm. My brother is a dentist and makes $400k a year and he seems pretty happy.

Gets hit on by his patients plenty of times too.

He's in the top 1% of dentists then. Or more likely he's just lying to you lmao

[NoScrubz]

Gonna need around $350k just to be doing OK pretty soon with the way prices are climbing ded fkn srs

[sword_]

There is a certain hedonic set point that will normalize at a certain level of income.

When I was trying to get a job my problem was paying for my car, health insurance, and moving out on my own.
When I finally got a job making 40k my basic needs were met and I could save up to buy a few things here and there but I definitely had a ways to go so my next thing was getting a promotion so I was a bit of a careerist.

I made around 150K last year and my stress now is having to pay for inconveniences, mostly first work problem ****. I got sued last year for a 2018 accident where I failed to yield to a pedestrian. I worry about my investments having bad day and I'm dealing with the daily stressors of work life. I tend to worry about family members so I end up giving money to my grandma, aunt, or cousin to help them.

I'm all about getting money but it's not to buy dumb **** but to leave the rat race, save money for my future and for my family.

Even if you're rich your level of happiness may change for a fleeting ephemeral moment but it will adjust to some level of baseline.

True happiness isn't derived from money figure.

[propreffered7]

"happy" is subjective as fuk

what if you make 135k, then have a 50k dollar repair or medical bill... are you "happy" then?

too many variables + happiness is fleeting

[sapdori]

He's in the top 1% of dentists then. Or more likely he's just lying to you lmao

He has his own practice.

[tk217]

There is a certain hedonic set point that will normalize at a certain level of income.

When I was trying to get a job my problem was paying for my car, health insurance, and moving out on my own.
When I finally got a job making 40k my basic needs were met and I could save up to buy a few things here and there but I definitely had a ways to go so my next thing was getting a promotion so I was a bit of a careerist.

I made around 150K last year and my stress now is having to pay for inconveniences, mostly first work problem ****. I got sued last year for a 2018 accident where I failed to yield to a pedestrian. I worry about my investments having bad day and I'm dealing with the daily stressors of work life. I tend to worry about family members so I end up giving money to my grandma, aunt, or cousin to help them.

I'm all about getting money but it's not to buy dumb **** but to leave the rat race, save money for my future and for my family.

Even if you're rich your level of happiness may change for a fleeting ephemeral moment but it will adjust to some level of baseline.

True happiness isn't derived from money figure.

I'm 15 years from leaving the rat race.

[FrankCostanza]

135 iss okay in california. its apartment status 5ever in the bay area though.

[DigDeeper1]

When I lived in Australia I lived in Sydney and earned no where near that amount but was still very happy and loved my life there.

[EoR]

That research is wrong.

[mcdojo]

When I lived in Australia I lived in Sydney and earned no where near that amount but was still very happy and loved my life there.

Whyd you leave then

[DavidEaslea]

Well you need at least $150k to raise a family here so I'm not surprised.

[Polaris]

I'm all about getting money but it's not to buy dumb **** but to leave the rat race, save money for my future and for my family.

This.

[augustusbrah]

nice, even california's cost of living is factored in.

[Devin459]

Everyone on the misc likes to act like their area has the highest cost of living. Stfu you twats. Unless you have a major idiotic spending habit or you don't have a budget at all, there's no reason why you can't live comfortably off of a household income of 80-100k. I listen to couples all the time that have a household income of 50-60k and live just fine.

The problem is, most young people that increase their wages substantially, also voluntarily inflate their own cost of living, so they don't even notice a difference in income at the end of the month. My guess is, if you think you need $130k+ to be happy, you clearly have the financial discipline of a retarded teenager, and have zero idea where your money is going.

It amazes me how many 100K+ earners live paycheck to paycheck.

[Globally]

135k tax free annuity I could be pretty happy. But 135k while working full time? No thanks.

This is like the “average penis is 5.5”” myth

[PTzFree]

Maybe more financially stable, but not happier.

I make a decent amount less than that, single income, wife, and 4 kids - I'm leaps and bounds happier than every single person I know making more than me.

[Achilles87]

Wtf 100k in Samoa must be baller as chit

[capowt]

We used estimates from Purdue University’s paper “Happiness, income satiation and turning points around the world” to calculate satiation points for over 160 countries. We then adjusted dollar figures using the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) conversion factor from the World Bank and the currency exchange rate from TheGlobalEconomy in order to convert the figures from the regional to the country level.

Finally, we used cost of living data from Numbeo to adjust national level estimates of satiation points to the city level. National estimates were adjusted using Numbeo’s Cost of Living Index, wherein a 1-point difference in index score between two geographies is equivalent to a 1% difference in the cost of living.

Cliffs: fkn LOL

[sapdori]

Maybe more financially stable, but not happier.

I make a decent amount less than that, single income, wife, and 4 kids - I'm leaps and bounds happier than every single person I know making more than me.

What makes you so happy brah. Reveal dem secrets.