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Wednesday, June 22, 2016

What's Enough Money to Be Happy? Let's Learn

Updated:  March 1, 2022

Some say that $50,000 per year and a paid up mortgage is the prime point of greatest happiness. 

Other writers like Wes Moss, host of Money Matters and author of the book "You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think," imply that you need around $65 - $75,000 per year to retire -- which is when you can be happiest.

Most of us seem to believe that more money means more happiness.
 
But according to the research described by the University of Texas & Indian Business School professor teaching the online Coursera course "A Lifetime of Happiness and Fulfillment," it just ain't so.   

Dr. Raghunathan and his visiting lecturers including such leading thinkers as  Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational), Ed Diener (“Dr. Happiness”), and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (author of Flow), money is just a medium that people believe will lead them to happiness.  And our perceptions about that path are often wrong.   

But wait!  That's new age nonsense, I said. 

How happy can you be standing in a food stamp line?  Living in povertyNone of us want that future for ourselves or anyone that we know.  

The good news is that there are many other skills leading to happiness that are proven to bring meaning and fulfillment to your life.     

And you don't have to be a monk to achieve these states, although it works for them as well.  And in fact, these skills might, paradoxically, make you more successful in the business world.

Finding flow, self-compassion, gratitude, physical exercise -- this is just the shortlist of what Raj Raghunathan is teaching in the course.  

Even better, you can get to learn about them and practice them for free.   

Favorite Frugal Indulge for this summer?  Coursera Courses!  Usually free, if you don't want or need the certificate.  And totally Juicy.