Quote of the Day - Money and Happiness

While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery. ― Groucho Marx

It really is true that money cannot buy happiness. Someone determined to be miserable will be miserable no matter how much money they have. Someone happy by nature will find a way to be happy even if they are penniless. I have seen it in myself and those I know.

Although I am a pessimist and always plan for the worst case, I manage to be happy most of the time. Paradoxically, even though I believe everything will go wrong, I simultaneously believe I will make the best of whatever happens and come out on top. That things will work out for the best, even when the wheels come off all at once. That has been the story of my life so far, and I do not see any reason why it should change.

Having been through periods without money and periods with money, I realize money’s main function is to cushion catastrophe. The more money you have, the greater it cushions things, even when it cannot erase catastrophe. No amount of money could save my late wife, Janet, from the cancer that killed her or prevent the loss I felt at her death. But money kept her, comfortable to an extent not possible otherwise, even when I went into debt to get those resources.

I did not give way to despair afterward, although I suppose it would have been easy to do so. I am not made that way. Instead, I soldiered on and quickly paid off the debt. I soon discovered that once you pay off a big debt, if the income you made to do so continues you quickly have more money than you can (or desire to) spend. Six years after her death I consider myself rich – at least by my definition of rich. (If you can maintain the lifestyle you desire without working you are rich, no matter how simple or elaborate that lifestyle is. Even if you make $ 1 million a year, if you find yourself out on the street in six months without that job, you are not rich. You are just in the upper levels of the working poor.)

But the money I did not have did not make me unhappy, nor does the money I have now make me any happier than I would be otherwise. What it does is provide a greater cushion against adversity.

A hurricane hit Houston two weeks back. As a result, I lost power for four days – a miserable experience. The money I have allows me to purchase and install a whole-house backup generator. Once installed, I will be insulated from future power losses. (Since this is the fourth time I have lost power for an extended period in three years, the expenditure seems worth it.) It will not make my life any happier overall, but it will increase my comfort during future power losses.

That is an extravagant solution, but if I had fewer resources I could tailor a less costly (albeit less convenient) solution. My brother plans to buy a smaller “putt-putt” portable generator that will keep his refrigerator, freezer and a few fans and lights on.

Money may make you more comfortable, but only you can make yourself rich or miserable.