Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Ask your investment, budget, and other money related questions here
ducknald_don
Posts: 322
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:31 pm
Location: Oxford, UK

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by ducknald_don »

chenda wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:42 am
I thought that was a myth ?
I think it has been coming down in recent years, the same as in Japan.

7Wannabe5
Posts: 9372
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:03 am

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Hmmm. I would say that I am rarely content, but I am easily pleased and well able to keep myself entertained. One of my mother's famous expressions was "I am not your clown."

Henry
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2022 1:32 pm

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by Henry »

Frita wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:20 pm
Many Americans seem death-phobic to me.
Nobody thinks they are going to die in America. I now live in an area that's pre-colonial. Every church has a cemetery surrounding it. The graves served as a public reminder that it's a "when not if" question. And not only is no one going to die, when someone does happen to die, we hide it from public view. I think our reaction to COVID brought both these issues to the forefront. Ask the question, have you seen a dead body? The answer to that question has changed over the course of history not because less people are dying but we are now adept at not having to see it. Look at the Lifespan thread on this board and its militancy against the idea of death. Stem cells, vitamins, oxygen chambers. Ultimately, what is that going to do. And I just don't understand anyone wanting to live to those ridiculous old ages. I don't want some trophy for just continuing to show up. It's fucking humiliating. Look at Henry, he's 120. He used to be an asshole on the internet. Now he just shits his pants.

7Wannabe5
Posts: 9372
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:03 am

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

I held the hand of my friend who was worth north of 100M as he died. Then the paid-by-the-hour barely-out-of-her-teens health care aide took off, and I was left alone with his body for a couple hours, because it was Labor Day weekend and middle of Covid crisis. The situation was made more surreal and upsetting due to the fact that it was rumored he had money and gold hidden in the house, and the kitchen table was covered with a variety of narcotic drugs that the hospice nurse told me to dispose of responsibly when she stopped by to fill out the papers. I didn't know what to do with myself after I dug out a suit from the closet as directed by the funeral home folks. What I wanted to do was open the front door, leave it open, and sit on the porch until somebody else arrived.

I also was with my father when he died at home, but we were surrounded by other family members, and a not-stressed-out-by-Covid hospice support team. It really is much better to die surrounded by your loved ones than to die with 100M in the bank. Though, it's also not necessarily the case that how you die is an overall reflection on how you lived.

jacob
Site Admin
Posts: 15907
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: USA, Zone 5b, Koppen Dfa, Elev. 620ft, Walkscore 77
Contact:

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by jacob »

"How to die well" (or "gallantly" as per my favorite Heinlein quote) is rather neglected by modern and postmodern tropes. The traditionalists seem to have the process dialed down. Of course they had a lot more centuries to figure it out. This is yet another aspect that is currently lacking for "how to human".

guitarplayer
Posts: 1303
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by guitarplayer »

Henry wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:25 pm
And not only is no one going to die, when someone does happen to die, we hide it from public view.
Kingsnorth whom @Hristo Botev often mentions has a good video about it somewhere on the Internets, in the context of his conversion to Christianity.

I feel it healthy to contemplate death in general and one's own in particular.

AxelHeyst
Posts: 2118
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 4:55 pm
Contact:

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by AxelHeyst »

I got a lot out of Die Wise, by Stephen Jenkinson. Link.

xmj
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:26 am

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by xmj »

Humanofearth wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 7:32 pm
@xmj
I know many millionaires. They say it would increase security for their family after passing on or allow them to retire. Considering how much I doubt the latter as most of them would likely go crazy after a few months of decompressing, it didn't seem to have much impact. The line I notice outside of extreme high col areas is ~1-3M for a household.
Sounds about right. When I contrast this with your OP it seems you're more interested in Quality of Life adjustments than adding yet more "numbers on a screen". Which is as good a choice as any ;-)

User avatar
fiby41
Posts: 1611
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:09 am
Location: India
Contact:

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by fiby41 »

No but the process of getting there might. There are 5 levels of wealth I've identified with additional money does not increase your quality of life until I have hit the next level. Think of water tanks where water starts filling from the top and there is an overflow latch to prevent wastage of water that takes the excess water into the next larger tank averting spillage.

Level 1: is individual FI;RE.
Level 2: Is family FI;RE. 1.5x to 2x Lvl 1. When here, you need a "net worth" certificate from a CA to lend a bulk of it on P2P platforms. If my annual income exceeds Lvl 2, then I have to file income tax return form 3 instead of 1.
Level 3: At least 8x Lvl 1. Now I become qualified to invest in securities and exchange board of India (SEBI) regulated alternate investment funds (AIFs) which are unlisted shared in single/special purpose vehicles (SPV) private limited companies which means I have to file ITR-2 for holding shares in an unlisted company.
Level 4: Is 37x-38x Lvl 1 when I can become an angel investor/qualified sophisticated investor per SEC.
There is a bonus level that gets unlocked when I could start considering renting a private jet as the time saved becomes worth it.

Humanofearth
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 3:32 am

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by Humanofearth »

@XMJ
I literally can’t think of any more quality of life improvements unless I want to have tons of kids.

The quality of life improvements I want now are dependent on hard work. Learn to sleep earlier, say no to buffets, learn to connect better to people. I’m a bit autistic, which may explain why I have no desire to spend on status goods. Even entertaining the idea stresses me out. Don’t want to scratch my Rolex or lambo. Don’t want to clean a giant home. The only upgrades I may want- personalized weight training plan, stem cells, are well within my reach of paying for now but honestly, figuring out sleep and a steady diet are more important. And no, 20M won’t somehow make gochugang pork less delicious.

@Fiby41
Do you really think access to those investments would increase your quality of life in any tangible way?

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: Would 20M Radically Increase Your Happiness?

Post by mountainFrugal »

New paper with Killingsworth and Kahneman figuring out discrepancies in their data sets.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2208661120

tl;dr Killingsworth published a paper in 2021 showing that "happiness" increased beyond the classic 75-100K threshold in the Kahneman paper. The nuance that is present in both the old and new data sets is that bump in happiness that plateaus is for the least happy of people in the sample population. The original Kahneman study had limitations due to the binary ways the questions were asked. More money leads to more options which leads to more "happiness" or a greater ability to consume.

Here is a general science Nautilus Article By Killingsworth

My guess is that for the ERE crowd, more options opened through an integrated life system could be a similar outcome as having $20M.

Post Reply