Money and happiness. Are they two items that go hand and hand, or are they just two items that do not correlate with one another? The Oxford Dictionary defines happiness as, “The  state of pleasurable contentment of mind; deep pleasure in or contentment with one’s circumstances.” Can’t money buy items that contribute to one’s contentment or pleasure? And if so, then doesn’t that mean one can buy happiness? Many people have varying opinions on this topic, but I don’t see how it couldn’t buy me or anyone else true satisfaction in life.

     I’m not saying the only way one can be happy is if they have a substantial amount of money, but it would certainly help a lot of people if they did. Simple payments that can be a struggle for some wouldn’t need to be a worry anymore. This includes rent, insurance, car payments, and any other bills one may have. The stress that can come with having to live paycheck to paycheck to simply pay for one’s needs can become overwhelming. Having the additional money would be able to alleviate that and bring one more joy in their life. It may not just be the cash that leads to this joy, but the items and experiences one can buy that would improve many people’s lives. Even if people say this wouldn’t make them happier, I know that having a lot of money would certainly improve my life.

     It’s not just materialistic items that would contribute to my happiness, it’s the activities and experiences I would be able to buy and the help I would be able to offer others that would bring me joy. There are many experiences I would like to have but simply can’t afford, so having additional money could most definitely buy me those experiences that would simultaneously buy me happiness. Along with that, there is a great amount of joy that comes with helping others. Having the ability to donate to others, to charity, or simply buy stuff for others that they wouldn’t get for themselves would bring so much fulfillment to my life. I think many other people in the world think the same way, and if they had more money, they would be able to do all of this and more, which would ultimately make them happier in life.

     In all honesty, I think most people who say money isn’t capable of buying happiness are the people who don’t have it and want to make themselves feel better or people who are rich and just deny that it’s a part of their happiness. An article by Knowledge at Warton said, “For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness increases linearly with income, and for the happiest group the association accelerates above $100,000.” The research done by these people found that an increase in wealth did lead to an increase in happiness until it eventually plateaued. These researchers then found that if someone has a lot of money but isn’t happy, more won’t make them feel better, but for most others, an increase in wealth did show an improvement in happiness. While it may not be able to fix everything in the world or in people’s lives, there is a lot of joy that would be able to come out of an increase in income.

     So, while being rich or even simply having a reasonable amount of wealth may not solve all of my problems, it would allow me to buy pretty much anything which could help eliminate most of them and give me experiences I could never afford otherwise. Even though there may be many people who say money isn’t capable of buying happiness, I disagree with that and believe with the right amount of money, it could one hundred percent buy mine and many other people’s joy and satisfaction within life.