Arthur Brooks, author of “Build the Life You Want,” joins TheStreet to explain why financial might not make you happy, but it’ll make you less unhappy.
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00:00So, is there a role for financial security in the pursuit of happiness?
00:07There absolutely is.
00:08Why?
00:09Because financial security per se makes it possible for you to avoid a lot of the sources
00:12of unhappiness.
00:13And this is one of the mistakes that we often make.
00:15We think if I get more financial security, I'll be happier.
00:17No, you'll be less unhappy.
00:19And the problem is that it doesn't take that much to be financially secure.
00:22I mean, it takes more than a few bucks.
00:24But the whole point is that when you are able to avoid normal sources of stress, like paying
00:29your rent, taking care of your kids, that kind of security, it avoids tons of unhappiness
00:34in your life.
00:35Then, you can actually focus on the things that really matter to you, like spending time
00:38with those kids that you're trying to get financial viability to support more reliably.
00:43And so, what are some of the common myths that you come across when you're dealing with
00:49this topic of money and happiness?
00:53The number one is that, you know, people talk about money and happiness.
00:57Actually, really, money is more related to unhappiness than it is to happiness.
01:01And money really can lower your unhappiness, which is one of the most important things
01:04that we can do as a society, is to make sure that people have access to the basic services
01:08so we can get rid of these normal worries that they have.
01:12That's really important.
01:13The second thing is that they notice in their lives, a lot of young people, for example,
01:16when they make money for the first time, that they feel better.
01:19And so, the result is they chase that feeling for the rest of their lives.
01:22Like, I don't know, I made $20,000 a year, and I was really under a lot of pressure.
01:26And then I made $40,000, and I felt better.
01:28So therefore, if I go to $200,000 to $400,000, I'm going to feel the same, and it doesn't
01:32work that way because you're not eliminating the sources of unhappiness in the same way
01:35that you were when you were at lower income levels.