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Arvin Lau Eng 214.67 Sept. 5, 2012 From the moment we are born our parents create expectations for us. They want us to become responsible adults with good paying jobs or even become very successful and make an above-average income. The infrastructure of our society revolves around money, so we are constantly bombarded with the importance of obtaining it. We are planted on the path of school and over the years it gradually directs our minds to pursue a profession in which to make a living. Society also sets the norm, from advertisements of expensive products to celebrities and wealthy role models, we become to think that financial success is the source of all happiness. Almost all goods and services can be acquired with wealth so there is a reason why we are driven towards money. Many believe the sole reason for wealth is to bring happiness and to fulfill the things you enjoy. What is not known is that there is a limit to money’s power to provide happiness. There is a point in which financial success no longer provides happiness. As we build up finances we acquire the necessities and even extra needs and wants in life that do provide happiness, but beyond a certain point, we begin feeling pressured to achieve more. Money brings happiness when we are starting along, building up to financial stability. When we start from nothing to something we understand that the money is rewarding. Our needs and wants are being fulfilled giving a sense of accomplishment as well as enjoyment of the item or service received through money. You can see it when a child gets a toy that they want. They nag or gesture signifying their want for it. They are working towards that toy and when they receive it they take pleasure in playing with it. This is the initial association that people have with what money can do for them, so they pursue in obtaining it. In our society it

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has become second nature to do what is required to acquire the funds for a commodity. As we are in the beginning processes of increasing income we get more and more freedom. We progress in age, so does our income and wants. Compared to my younger self who always wanted money to buy miniature toy cars, I now seek a larger commodity like an actual automobile. I seek greater independence and many others do at the young adult age. Independence makes me feel stronger as a human being, with the power and freedom to do anything.We still find happiness in increasing wealth because there are still increasing necessities, like the car, which can give back the joy with what the money was worth. Having a steady income still provides enjoyment when you have a stable schedule. You find a much more stable leisure time which means there is a set time for spending the disposable income. My dad saves up for my family to go on vacation every year. Each year we change the location or event. Many of the places we go vary, from cruises to foreign countries, every time we come back smiling from the experience. The shift from the casualness of a normal day to the super change in satisfaction that can increase happiness. While we grow and discover, we find that money does provide a source of happiness. Whether we are children or adults, we each have something to build up to. At a certain point having too large of an income can negate happiness. In the USA Today article by Wendy Koch, she mentions a 2010 Princeton study that states that “[everyday happiness]changes little once a person reaches $75,000 a year” (Koch, p.5). This number may be different for everyone because we all experience and are exposed to the idea of materialism differently. When this point is reached, there is constant pressure to achieve more than what should be enough for you. It becomes unnecessary to constantly push further because it shifts the

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balance of happiness and anxiety. When you make a large amount of money, meeting peers in your wealth range becomes inevitable. Because there is always someone better than you, there is always the motivation to have the need to compete with them. Putting money in front of yourself is likely to consume your time when you are anxious to compete. Finding the right time to stop is essential to finding happiness with money. Pushing beyond what is actually required will lower your happiness. Therefore, the time devoted to working for that money should be equal to the time spending it. Excessively working to surpass your current income will end up in not having enough time to enjoy the money you make. There is a freedom in having a balanced work and leisure time. People also tend to endlessly prepare for the future and we get the idea to stock pile for an early retirement. The worth of that time never returns in the end because the prime years of life are wasted building up. A balance of the working and spending produces the most happiness because the spending serves as a break and reward. A more frequent reward will stimulate pleasure resulting in more fun. There a peculiar idea of how we get accustomed to our lifestyles that nothing can satisfy us. Living in a world where you can afford anything you want, the reach for something more enjoyable becomes very difficult. If you take a wealthy person, for example, Oprah Winfrey and put her in a half million dollar house, she would not be extremely excited, compared to the average person, because she directly compares it to her wealthy lifestyle with a multimillion dollar mansion. Our moods differ when use finances that actually improve from daily life; happiness is measured by satisfaction and improvement gives a person an accomplished feeling. To maximize happiness understanding what gives it should be kept in mind. We can go too far in reaching and not understand that what we ultimately wanted, happiness, can actually be taken away.

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From infancy to old age, money takes over a large amount of our lives. We use money to satisfy our needs providing our happiness but beyond certain incomes it becomes a struggle to maintain the competing environment. The enticement of money is nailed deep in our minds so many people do not relax and enjoy life as it moves along. Forever piling up funds for years too late in life can be wasted and regretful. You might not ever be able to enjoy it!