Money increases happiness, according to Harvard University. But only when it is lifting people out of extreme poverty. It essentially comes down to Mazlow’s basic needs. If money can help you attain shelter, food and clothing — which eventually lifts you into the middle class – then it does bring you happiness.
But little after that. Once those basic needs are taken care of, we must go to higher needs for happiness. Caring for people. Caring for ourselves. Doing the right thing. Living a simpler life. According to Stephen G. Post, Director of Compassionate Care at Stony Brook University in New York, happiness was on a higher level during the Great Depression than it was at the turn of this century. He attributes much of this to a simpler lifestyle.
Live simply; be happy.
