Would You Be Happier if You Were Richer?
Inequality makes people feel poor and act poor, even when they’re not.
Keith Payne • The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Changes the Way We Think, Live and Die
Seeing things this way helps explain the otherwise mysterious truth that rich people in capitalist economies are often surprisingly miserable. They’re very good at instrumentalizing their time, for the purpose of generating wealth for themselves; that’s the definition of being successful in a capitalist world. But in focusing so hard on instrumenta
... See moreOliver Burkeman • Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
In his excellent book Your Money and Your Brain, Jason Zweig shows how powerful this can be. In a survey of 800 people with a net worth of at least $500,000, 19% said that having enough money was a constant worry. For those with a net worth of at least $10 million, 33% felt this way. "Somehow," Zweig writes, "as wealth grows, worry g
... See moreMorgan Housel • Everyone Believes It; Most Will Be Wrong: Motley Thoughts on Investing and the Economy
We think we know the ingredients for happiness. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside, and popular author on the subject of happiness, summarized several reviews of the literature on the elements we commonly consider: “a comfortable income, robust health, a supportive marriage, and lack of tragedy or t
... See moreAnnie Duke • Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
high-inequality contexts make contentment even harder.