<p>It's different for everyone depending how much they want to achieve fulfillment in their life. I lived in a household that made 200K per year and I was never happy because my friends had multi-million dollar trust funds maturing when they turned 18. They'll be living off interest while I have to earn my income the hard way after college. I've also known people whose parents are scrapping by on food stamps and they think I'm living like a king. It's all relative.</p>
<p>Why is the belief that you need a ridiculous amount of stuff to be happy so prevalent? Does anyone ever wonder why one of the few things every major religious tradition is united in is that money is, if not inimical, at least inconsequential to true happiness and meaning?</p>
<p>It is better to need less than have more. - St. Augustine</p>
<p>BTW, good post, Northstarmom.</p>
<p>Religion is an opiate of the masses for the high society to justify their own positions of power/influence.</p>
<p>I would certainly agree with you that organized religion is just what you mentioned; however, read up on any great mystic or spiritual leader and see if you subscribe to that simplistic view for ALL manifestations of religion.</p>
<p>Wait, I'm going to recorrect myself, I'm going to work very hard in the business world and try to become a millionare at 35, then by 50 retire.</p>
<p>well it would be nice to have a 100K a year, but even if i had all the money ++ didn<code>t have the other things to make me happy, then life would still suck! so, chyea
money doesn</code>t buy happiness.
geez, i sound like my freaking mother</p>
<p>I honestly think most of us, if we are happy now, would be happy maintaining the same lifestyle we had when our parents arn't flipping the bill. If your family is only making 50,000 a year, then you'll be happy with 50,000 a year. Frankly, i know my family makes substantially more than that, and i think i wouldn't want to end up 10 tiers lower then that. I would want to do at least as well as my parents did. So whats wrong with saying I would want to make $500k a year? I want to have a sweet car. I want to live in a sweet house/apartment thats in a chic area. I want to wear cloths from neiman marcus and not from target. I like shopping for cool little electronics. I like fine dining - not applebees or joe's pizzeria. call me a snob but those things make me happy - of course i'd love ot have someone to share those things with, too - money can't buy that.</p>
<p>Yeah definitely. I think it's pretty normal to aspire to have more or less the lifestyle to which one was accustomed growing up. My household income growing up was about 150k per year, so I'd like to have maybe slightly more than that, say 200k per year household income, plus an adjustment for inflation of course.</p>
<p>As long as I have a car that runs, a house that gives me shelter, and food.....then I don't need a ferrari or a 5000 sq ft home for myself to be happy. </p>
<p>I guess some people posting in this thread have higher expectations, but it's kind of sad that they need to make 100K+ to be happy. lol</p>
<p>I'd like to be rich, but I'd rather be happy. And I have a feeling that being happy is going to entail many years of being a starving artist of some kind. </p>
<p>So basically, enough to get by. Target clothes aren't that bad...</p>
<p>I don't know what my dream job is. I also don't know how to make the risk to go to something I love versus something that pays well and is no fun.</p>
<p>My happiness can probably be bought with 50k yearly... But it's much cheaper and satisfying to make it myself. :)</p>
<p>wow.</p>
<p>i could make 0 bucks for all i care</p>
<p>as long as i have my surfboard, dirtbike, and a wife to have rough sex with i am as happy as i can be.</p>
<p>We have a winner.... :D</p>
<p>lol.
I don't measure happiess with money. I measure it with stuff!
As long as I live in a luxury tower, own a condo by the beach, have a beautiful wife and two well behaved kids, custom-made...um everything I'd be pretty happy.
Unfortunately, you can't have any of that without money.</p>
<p>This is going to sound stupid, but...I think i'd be happiest (and I intend to try this someday) making absolutely nothing. I'm going to run away into the wilderness somewhere and live off nature.</p>
<p>Enough money to build myself an army of robots that will take over the world. Awww, yeeaa. :cool:</p>
<p>~50K
Expenses covered and then some.</p>
<p>i'd like living the same standards that I'm living right now with my parents, which is 70k.</p>
<p>I'd have to make about the current market value of all the real estate in Manhattan to be happy....so basically if I owned Manhattan. That would buy me happiness.</p>
<p>That would be: $1248901509140124091201102415819240192 (you can stop me at any time)123904915151..........</p>