Spending: Can money really buy happiness?

It’s not how much you have, but how you spend it.

It’s not how much you have, but how you spend it, said Gareth Cook in Scientific American. There’s a commonly held notion that having more money “is going to make us happier,” but more often than not, that is an erroneous notion. We’re better off if we “stop thinking exclusively about how to get more money and instead focus” on getting the most happiness for the buck. Researchers suggest spending less money on “stuff” and more on “experiences”—such as vacations or meals.

You may even want to reconsider homeownership, said Michelle Higgins in The New York Times. Even though it’s a key component of the American dream, “spending money on real estate doesn’t necessarily mean investing in contentment.” For years people have been encouraged to cut back on day-to-day spending to save for a down payment on their own home. But more and more research shows that those years of penny-pinching do not improve our emotional well-being. That insight “may offer some solace to frustrated buyers” in today’s real estate market, where mortgage rates are low but pickings are slim. And it’s good news for those living in places like New York City, where rentals make up the majority of housing stock. Research has shown that homeowners aren’t generally any happier than renters are.

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