Do you have to be rich to be happy....?

[midi2304]

In a bid to start an interesting thread, given that the Suth Bros / Polish one has died a bit, I want to ask Orgers a question...

Is it more important to be rich to be happy?

Now before you all jump in with your 'best things in life are free' and 'all you need is love' type comments, think long and hard about it.

I'm interested to hear peoples' opinions but don't post until you've thought long and hard about what you are saying.

[midi2304]

And as an aside (and I'm sure I don't need to spell this out to you) but 'rich' is open to each of your own personal interpretations.

[martin macdonald]

In a bid to start an interesting thread, given that the Suth Bros / Polish one has died a bit, I want to ask Orgers a question...

Is it more important to be rich to be happy?

Now before you all jump in with your 'best things in life are free' and 'all you need is love' type comments, think long and hard about it.

I'm interested to hear peoples' opinions but don't post until you've thought long and hard about what you are saying.

no. no. but it helps

[garble]

I guess as long as you have enough so you don't have to worry about where next months rent/mortgage/whatever type of payment is coming from and are content with the direction your life is taking then that's all that matters.

[danc1ngwitch]

I ain't gonna think long and hard about it... I beleive that i am rich, rich in many ways... See like i said i, me, myself can look outta ma window and see past all the material stuff, once u can truely do that and be thankful for what u have and cherish what u have then i think u are on ur way ta being rich... but then listen to me rattle on about something that many will never have... so allow them to dip into the pockets of plenty,

[paris]

If i honest im not well of BUT owned my own house when i was 15 so over the years moving from one to another house i paid of my mortgage 16 yrs ago and now dont have to struggle, dont get me wrong money has never been plentiful but i am now more than comfortable, AND happier so i would say yes money does make you happy. jan x

[obiron]

i dont think you have to be rich to be happy but i do think that money could could buy me a good time..

[danc1ngwitch]

i dont think you have to be rich to be happy but i do think that money could could buy me a good time..

oh u hussie lol...

[David from Stockport]

Dont worry midi - someone has started a tread about entering and leaving the country to replace the Sutherlands/ Polish tread , its a new one and Scotsman doesnt seem to have seen it-yet.

As for your question well being rich would be nice and whilst that alone may not make you happy it would help, in my case i work 6/7 days a week to attempt to keep my head above water , im early 40 s earn £ 13,500 basic and cannot afford to buy even a studio apt here in England , i went out for a drink about 10 weeks ago. Im not bothered about being rich but i would like to be able to afford to have some life - that would make me happy. Mind you if i do start to improve my lot Tony Blair seems to be intent on taxing me out of it .
Now lets see if Scotsman has seen the tread about entering and leaving yet!!!!!

[Piglet]

I am happy with what i have a bit extra money would be the icing on the cake (so to speak)

[golach]

I am not rich, but reasonably happy, if I were rich would I be happier? I honestly dont know, I can walk to and from my local, when I want, buy Mrs G what she wants, can chew a nice rare steak (ok the teeth are false) have a full cocktail cabinet, a free bus pass, what more do I need?

[Bobinovich]

While I learned the lesson "there's more to life than money" at quite an early age, a little extra would never go amis. Like most people we have debts and would like to reduce/clear them sooner rather than later, however the reality is that, over time, they will get paid off anyway so another valuable lesson "patience is a virtue" kicks in, so we'll probably just have to wait and keep paying!

Does having more money make you happier? No it just eases one of lifes burdens and anything which helps to reduce the stresses in our lives can't be a bad thing. However too much money can also change people and their lives for the worse, so inducing more/different stresses.

It can be a double edged sword.

[frank ward]

I am extremely rich and extremely happy

[Liz]

NoI don't think having money will make you happy if you weren't happy before but I do think that being poor can make you unhappy ie not being able to pay bills etc ,can cause a lot of stress.

I would just like enough to live comfortably and not worry about the bills etc.

Having said that I definitely value other things far more highly than material stuff but being realistic need this as well.

I suppose, as with everything in life, it is getting the correct balance isn't it?

[Fraser Macleod]

you need money to survive, perhaps not necaserraly to be rich but enough to get buy.

you need happiness, even if its only a small measure, to keep yourself sane.

you dont need one to have the other, you simply need both as part of the essentials of life.

[JAWS]

Wealth and happiness are two totally separate things. Having one does not necessarily mean you automatically have the other.

[frank ward]

Who said this?:

"I've been rich and I've been poor, and rich is better"

It was some american actor I think, can't remember who.........

[katarina]

In a bid to start an interesting thread, given that the Suth Bros / Polish one has died a bit, I want to ask Orgers a question...

Is it more important to be rich to be happy?
.

No, but it helps you to be miserable in comfort.

[squidge]

I am happy but i do worry that I survive financially with very little margin for error. I hate bills and i hate the putting my card int he machine and keeping my fingers crossed. Things are better since the Bruce moved in but if im honest a wee cushion would be nice.

[dpw39]

"There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income and strive for it. Yet, as Western societies have got richer, their people have become no happier". - Richard Layard, Happiness - Lessons from a New Science.

As long as we have the "basic Biological & Physiological needs" such as fair, food, clothing, drink, shelter and warmth, sex, sleep etc, then we will survive (Maslow's Theory).

It would be nice to be financially solvent, but in most cases it would not make us more happier, as most Lottery/Pools winners will agree that it has brough them more grief than happiness.

We may have more food, more foreign holidays and a shorter working week, and in most cases a better health than our fore-fathers, but it would seem that we are no happier for all that. Money (especially in large or even small quantity's) is a tool that can provide us with a lifestyle that we desire.

£500,000 in your own bank account would seem to make your life a little bit more bearable, and you may possibly decide to give up work. As would £20 a week extra if you where on long-term benefits would have a similar effect (more bearable that is).

It's how you cope with the extra finance, and your personal responsibility for your own life and others who you care about. Money can be helpfull but it can also be the route of all evil . How we cope with the extra cash, is what it is all about. Happiness is a state where not many people truly achieve in life due to various pressures of modern day living.

If I won the lottery, I personally would donate most of it to charitable causes within the community, which in turn would make me happy to see others less fortunate than myself who suffer for whatever reasons benefit.

To finish, as long as I've got no serious bills/debt, my tobacco (I'm a smoker), food in the cupboard, my health, and a couple of £'s in my pocket, then I'm reasonably happy.

One has to experience total misery, before one can appreciate happiness in any shape or form.

Ciao,