Are you interested in learning about the secret to perfect happiness? The answer is to make over $500,000 a year, a top one percent income. Earning $500,000 is the start of the top 1% income threshold in America.
In an amazing Gallup poll highlighted by the Wall Street Journal, it says that 100% of those who make more than $500,000 are “very happy”! That's right. Not 98%. Not 99%. But a pure 100%.
This is a breakthrough research finding that has amazingly received little publicity. When you find perfection, it must be revealed!
Surely this study is more earth-shattering than a University of Alabama PhD finding that those who ate more fried chicken had a higher chance of a stroke. More money, more delirious happiness, not more problems, silly Biggy.
Read: Evidence Making Money Has Never Been Easier
Perfect Happiness Will Save The World
The simple solution to eliminating wars and eradicating all levels of sadness is to make over $500,000, a top 1% income.
Folks like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Li Ka Shing, The Walmart clan, Ray Dalio, and anybody who just inherited a bunch of money can make a difference in the lives of so many. All they have to do is donate $425,000 a year to median families given the median household income is roughly $75,000 in 2023.
I want to see a tag-team cage match between Princeton economist Angus Deaton and Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman who say that $75,000 is the ideal income for maximum happiness vs. Michigan Public Policy professor Betsey Stevenson (currently serving as a Member of the Council Of Economic Advisers) and Michigan economist Justin Wolfers who conclude that $500,000 is the magic number. Don't you?
If what Kahneman says is true, that $75,000 is the ideal income for maximum happiness, then why aren't all Americans truly satisfied with what they have? Ah hah! The Nobel Prize winner was wrong, and admitted so by raising his ideal income figure to $500,000 thirteen years later!
How Do The Researchers Know What Income Provides Max Happiness?
Chances are high that Deaton, Kahneman, Stevenson, and Wolfers have never made much more than $200,000. Take a look at the chart below of income levels for professors and instructors at the highest paid schools.
The best schools must pay academics a competitive wage to retain and attract the brightest minds, otherwise, they'll lose out to research institutes such as Pew, Gallup, the World Bank, Wall St. and so forth.
Older professors like Deaton and Kahneman might earn more due to consulting gigs, but I can't imagine that much more.
That said, with Stanford professors Bankman-Fried, parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, buying $15 million vacation properties in the Bahamas, perhaps professor do make way more than we realize! But this was in 2022, not in 2010, when Deaton and Kahneman came out with their study.
Given the upper limit is ~$200,000 a year, my immediate question is how these researchers with their fancy PhDs can speak so conclusively about their findings if they've never known what it's like to earn a higher income?
Everything they are doing beyond their income level is just conjecture. That said, good research scientists analyze data, remove biases, and come up with a conclusion.
How Did Deaton And Kahneman Come Up With Their $75,000 Figure
So what did Deaton and Kahneman do to come up with their $75,000 figure? They analyzed Gallup surveys of 450,000 Americans in 2008 and 2009 about their happiness levels.
That's fine, yet here are two other professors from Michigan who've come up with this new finding in a 2013 study analyzing Gallup surveys. In other words, everybody is just coming to different conclusions from a similar source. Here's how these Nobel Prize winners got their estimate so wrong.
I don't have a hundred thousand dollars in funding and a full-time job to come up with such findings like my esteemed colleagues do. But what I do have is the experience at one point of actually earning the full range of income in the relevant polls (less than $10,000 to more than $500,000).
I've also got friends who make over $500,000 who aren't very happy, but stressed out of their minds. One fella made over $10 million the other year and is trying desperately to quit his hedge fund job and teach again.
Personal Perspective On Income And Happiness, Analyzed
Let me start off by providing my “steady state” happiness level. From 0-10, with 10 being deliriously happy all the time, and 0 being suicidal, I'm about an 8. I hardly ever fight with my loved ones, and if we do, we make up within 30 minutes and laugh it off.
The only times I remember really feeling sad over the past three years was when I lost a tough doubles match, which ended up being the decider in my team's 2-3 loss. I was in a funk for a week. Then my pet of nine years died by my side, and I was thoroughly depressed again. Oh yeah, then my daughter and son rejected my love. That brought me down to a trough of sorrow.
But for the most part, I'm pretty happy. Many people have asked me randomly over the years why I'm smiling, when I have no idea I was smiling in the first place. It's my default predisposition.
I define Gallup's “very happy” as somewhere between 8-9. The following is a brief chronicle of various stages of income and happiness in my career to provide some personal insight. My happiness figure with regards to money basically will revolve around an 8.
Earning Less Than $10,000 A Year Was Tough
Life kinda sucked financially. I was making $4.25/hour and getting beat up by a power-tripping boss at McDonald's. My back hurt a lot due to moving heavy boxes at my other job. I rode a bike to school because I couldn't afford a car.
When I finally did buy a car, it was a POS Corolla hatchback. The muffler was loud because there was a hole I could not afford to fix. It scared a lot of girls away. At least I was fit and full of hope. Happiness level: 5
Making $30,000 – $50,000 A Year Felt Better
Everything was exciting in Manhattan. It felt like the future had unlimited potential. Unfortunately, my job came at a price. I gained 15 pounds in a matter of six months due to all the work hours (5:30am – 7:30pm+) working in finance.
My allergies were debilitating, I had chronic lower back pain, and I tore my plantar fascia by simply walking around the office one day. That's how stressed I was.
I lived in a studio with my high school buddy for $1,800, maxed out my 401k, and lived like a student for two years. The studio was simply a slightly more luxurious dorm room. Who needs to sleep in luxury when all they're doing is working?
With a first year base salary of $40,000, I had to live pretty frugally given I already had dreams of financial independence.
Happiness level: 7.5 because I was so thankful to find a job.
Happiness Level Making $100,000 – $250,000 A Year
Hello wonderful San Francisco! I felt like I escaped prison given how grueling everything was in NYC. The weather is depressing for five months a year given the grey skies. It's sweltering hot and muggy for at least three months of the year as well. Meanwhile, everything is so expensive in NYC. But it was really the complete focus on money, money, money that started to get to me about Manhattan.
San Francisco provided a much more balanced lifestyle. There's wine country an hour north. There's amazing skiing/snowboarding in Lake Tahoe. I was sold on the city when I went snowboarding in two feet of powder on a Saturday and played tennis in 72 degree and sunny weather on a Sunday.
Besides finance, there's a great tech/internet, healthcare, and arts industry as well. San Francisco is the best city in the world to buy real estate.
I shared a crappy 2/1 with a random roommate for $1,600/month in SF ($200 less a month than the studio in Manhattan), but I was making 2-3X more. The place was at the edge of noisy Chinatown, but at least it was close to work.
Lifestyle inflation was kept well at bay as I worked very hard my first several years to prove my worth at my new SF firm. After a couple years in SF, I saved up enough to buy my first property. It felt more meaningful to finally work for something more than just savings.
Happiness level: 8.5 because I felt I finally found a place where I could live forever.
Happiness Level Making $250,000 – $500,000 A Year
Life is hectic, but good. I got a promotion and felt like I was on the steepest portion of the career growth curve. Lots of responsibility was handed to me as my Director left to become a client. But the pressure was immense because it was the first time I was fully responsible for a multi-million dollar business.
It was tempting to spend money on fancy clothes, cars, and toys. Instead, I just raised my savings rate from 50% to 75% in my continued quest for financial freedom. I used my savings to buy a single family house at the end of 2004 and moved in early 2005. I finally felt like I had arrived because there were no HOA neighbors who could tell me what to do.
Going to business school part-time was a real ass-kicker. But it felt great to graduate in 2006 and have so much free time on the weekends again (no more 8-10 hours every Saturday). I drove around in a 1997 Honda Civic for a year until I decided to live it up by buying a six year old BMW M3 for $15,000. It was a fantastic car that I drove for two years until it began having transmission problems. Happiness level: 8.2 because I got used to the earnings and savings, but the stress increased.
Happiness Level Making More Than $500,000 A Year
The bull market felt like it could last forever until it came crumbling down in 2008/2009. 2007 bonuses were paid in 2008, and receiving the money always felt like a great big high for about two months. After that, it was back to the pressure cooker of trying to generate more revenue and rank better with institutional clients. It was a never ending cycle that finally halted.
Every day I felt fortunate to have a job during the downturn. Compensation was slashed in half as banks tried to avoid the fate of Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and Bear Sterns by preserving capital. Because I lost 35-40% of my net worth at one point, I did a lot of soul searching. I was scared I'd lose it all due to leverage in real estate, despite having 25% of my net worth allocated in FDIC-insured CDs.
Being in the finance industry during a financial crisis really made me feel absolutely useless. Something had to change so I started Financial Samurai as a way to cope with the financial loss. Helping real people with their financial problems felt very rewarding so I continued on this unlucrative hobby while slowly losing interest in my day job until I finally left in 2012.
Happiness level: 7.5 due to financial loss, disinterest in my occupation, and fear of the unknown.
Happiness Level Back to Making $100,000 – $250,000 A Year
Although I'm making several hundred thousand dollars a year less now, I don't miss it. I'm very happy because I'm doing what I love. I used to love working in finance for the first 10 years (1999-2009), but I was getting bored and the financial crisis quickened my disillusionment. Furthermore, I've got so much more freedom now, which is probably the biggest reason for a bump in happiness.
My ideal income for maximum happiness is $200,000 $250,000 because it feels right to pay roughly $55,000 a year in taxes based on the services and redistribution efforts the government provides, as opposed to paying more than $150,000 a year in taxes. Nobody is angry anymore for folks in this income range, even in super liberal San Francisco where two bedroom rentals average $3,700 a month.
The Best Income Is Around $200,000 Per Person
At $200,000 a year per individual, you can still save 30%+ of your income, which for lifelong savers like me is an important thing to do.
You'll never have to worry about where your next meal will come from. You won't worry about the gas station is gouging you for 25 cents more a gallon. Nor will you have to fret about spending $20 on a cab home versus waiting 40 minutes for the bus.
You can combat inflation with the best of them while making $200,000. I truly believe around $200,000 is the most tax-efficient and best income to earn in 2024 and beyond. Most the income faces a 24% or lower marginal federal income tax rate.
The feeling of making a large sum of money is like getting into a college of your choice, passing a difficult exam, or having someone you've liked forever reciprocate their interest. But that feeling dissipates very quickly, especially if all you're doing is saving it in a bank or investing it in the stock market.
Eventually, you're no longer too worried about starving on the streets. This is the reason why turning funny money into real assets feels so much better. You can actually see and touch your earnings.
Happiness level: 8.9
What Does Real Happiness Mean?
Real happiness is spending time with family and friends. Real happiness is experiencing new and exciting things. My one word definition for happiness is “progress.”
Even if I wasn't making big bucks during my career, the thrill of a promotion with new responsibilities was good enough to make me happy. Going from a win-loss record of 6-4 in tennis to 7-3 the next year makes me happy. Watching Financial Samurai grow bit by bit every month makes me happy.
For researchers to say $75,000 a year is the maximum income level for happiness is absurd, because it doesn't take into account where one lives and many other factors. Thanks to inflation, you need to earn a much higher income to be happy today.
The other financial variable to factor in for calculating happiness is net worth. After a certain net worth, there is a sense of financial calm and serenity. You no longer worry as much about money once you have a certain net worth.
Personally, I gain an even greater satisfaction having a higher net worth because it can generate passive income. Active income requires effort, passive income does not. When I have autonomy, or control over my time, I'm the happiest. I can do what I want when I want.
Inflation Makes Earning More Income Required For Greater Happiness
The $500,000+ income level where everybody is “very happy” also is silly. Nothing is 100%. Although, once you get really rich, you'll gain a lot of benefits, like a 2.2X greater chance of admissions to elite colleges for your kids!
When you are making this level of income, the pressure is generally immense. People may be counting on you to pay their bills. You might be under a constant magnifying glass to perform by superiors. Or you might experience a lot of guilt too. You can't just kick back and earn $500,000+ a year.
Most all of us have been financially poor once, unless we were just born to wealthy parents. Focus on progress instead. Money will eventually come. I truly do not believe we fluctuate more than 1.5 points +/- from our steady state happiness level, no matter how much or how little we make.
Loading ...To Get Rich, Track Your Finances Carefully
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Before Empower, I had to log into eight different systems to track 25+ difference accounts to manage my finances. Now, I can just log into Empower to see how my stock accounts are doing and how my net worth is progressing. I can also see how much I’m spending every month.
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Invest In Real Estate To Build More Wealth
Real estate is my favorite way to achieving financial freedom because it is a tangible asset that is less volatile, provides utility, and generates income. Stocks are fine, but stock yields are low and stocks are much more volatile.
The combination of rising rents and rising real estate prices builds tremendous wealth over the long term. Meanwhile, there are more ways to invest in areas of the country where valuations are lower and net rental yields are higher thanks to crowdfunding.
Take a look at Fundrise, my favorite private real estate platform that invests predominantly in the Sunbelt region. Fundrise invests in residential and industrial commercial real estate in various funds. This way, investors can earn more passive income and diversify their portfolios.
Fundrise has been around since 2012 and manages over $3.5 billion for over 500,000 investors. Financial Samurai is a six-figure investor in a Fundrise fund and Fundrise is a long-time sponsor of Financial Samurai.
Another great private real estate investing platform is Crowdstreet. Crowdstreet offers accredited investors individual deals run by sponsors that have been pre-vetted for strong track records. Many of their deals are in 18-hour cities where there is potentially greater upside. Crowdstreet is a solution where you can build your own select real estate portfolio.
I've personally invested $954,000 in real estate crowdfunding in various funds to take advantage of lower valuations in the heartland of America. My real estate investments account for roughly 50% of my current passive income of ~$270,000.
Both platforms are long-time sponsors of Financial Samurai and I have invested over $275,000 in Fundrise to diversify my real estate holdings.
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Dang. So 500k? Does that all have to be in wages and passive income? What about earnings and growth in your portfolio? Sale of real estate?
Wow 100% on that stat is fun to see! And good to strive for. My happiness has definitely risen with more income, more freedoms, and more financial independence. And it helps to look back and reflect on how things have changed in my career, lifestyle, housing situation, opportunities, etc. I am very thankful for all the insightful and enlightening things I’ve learned from your blog over the many years!
200k is the average across all full professors.
Economists are very well paid, probably the names you cited earn between 400-600k per year.
For example, it is publicly know that Acemoglu receives 800k per year from MIT.
And for staff at public universities you can look up their salaries. Wolfers’ 9 month salary is $335k.
[…] I’m much happier trying to make and maintain a $200,000 – $250,000 AGI than a $400,000 – $450,000 AGI. There’s too much work and stress involved at the $400,000+ level. I’ve also noticed there’s definitely not much more happiness between the two income levels, no matter what the latest gallup poll says! […]
[…] Here’s How Much To Make To Be Perfectly Happy […]
In this case, the question answers the answer. What I mean by that is, the question completely taints the user’s mindset and lends itself to a sliding scale with the highest number at the very top of the happiness ladder. Studies have been done extensively to reveal this as true.
Think of it this way: When a question focuses on but one variable, you only think of that lone variable when it comes to your happiness. In money’s case, it’s simple: the more you got, the better you ought to feel, right? Nonsense! I bet you another question, say: “what’s your level of happiness when you think of your relationship with your family?,” I bet my bottommost dollar that more than a few of the SAME respondents who claim they make over $500,000 per year won’t say “Very Happy.”
In his book “Thinking Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman discusses this topic. I believe it’s that book. I read too much so often I can’t remember the source!
Bottom line is this: your frame of mind is shaped by the question more than you’d care to think…
Happiest year of my life was my first year in the dorms at college. I made $20/week. Of course all my expenses were paid by my dad. Can I still count that?
Doesn’t count! Lol
I hear you. College was a freaking blast! And so was studying abroad in Beijing for me in 1997. Broke and extremely happy!
Interesting article and love your personal touch on the different levels. I think making over $100k would be a good place if you’re frugal and do not accumulate unnecessary things. $250k would mean you’re living pretty comfortable.
I do think that happiness increases with money because financial stress is painful and eats away at you every single day. How much the happiness actually increases once you pass a certain income level…I’m not too sure. I think we all want to believe that if we made x times more, we wouldn’t have x times more expenses and desires, but lifestyle inflation is not always easy to avoid. Having more money also makes one a bigger target for people to try and steal from or overcharge and that can’t feel good. Whatever income we make I think it’s good practice to regularly monitor our personal finances and make sure we’re spending our money wisely and not forgetting to save as well.
Interesting article – loved the title, and I think $500k a year could easily solve (i.e. throw money at) most of my problems that cause unhappiness, but would it make me truly happy?
I’m happiest now, and I make most now but I don’t think there is a direct link between these – as I’ve previously been happier when I’ve had a reduction in income.
We’ll see man. WE’LL SEE!!!
Seriously, this is one of your best blog posts. I guess my caveat would be to enjoy the journey as much as possible – on the way to one’s financial destination. Sorry to sound new agey on you all.
Steve, do you have a bit of Jekyll and Hyde in you mate? One minute, my posts suck, next minute “best post ever!”
Thanks though. Id love for you to write a post one day. You have a lot of aggressive opinions!
Hmmmm…. So there happened to be one person in their polling sample with an income above $500,000. And it just so happens, they were happy!
Maybe! But Gallup generally polls thousands of people.
Don’t deny perfect happiness Ace!
Sam,
Gallup isn’t very good. Pew is much better! Methodology is very important in polling.
Money can’t buy anyone happiness. It is a tool that buys you peace of mind, security and allows you to do things that make you happy but it won’t buy happiness. Having said that I’ve been dirt poor and have had years just a little shy of the “magic” number and it is more fun having money.
My wife and I have spent the last few years at or above $500k and we are not happy 100% of the time ( I’d say 8 on avg?) Like a few previous posters have said, our incomes come from very stressful corporate jobs. I was part of a small group that founded what has now turned into a $500 million company and as exciting and fun as my job is, there is a lot of pressure & responsibilities that comes with it. One of the biggest drawbacks to a higher happiness number is the pull between family and work for both of us.
I think as I read here previously if you have good relationships with family and friends and enough money to peruse things you enjoy, your happy factor is going to be quite high regardless of income as long as your income covers basic needs.
Just my perspective.
I’m fascinated by all these 500K+ earners in your commenters, Sam. They don’t seem that ecstatic to me. Like Krants says, and you’ve experienced, the level of expectation is very high and at some point the money becomes not worth it, hence the happiness level deteriorates. I think true happiness is actually being healthy and having the ones you love around and healthy and good relationships with them. When any of those factors are compromised or you start losing them, the top happiness factor diminishes a bit. Although you can still be mostly happy, because you then know the relative importance of money versus relationships versus spirituality.
Sam, I think you nailed the sweet spot of $200k income for an individual. Not sure if you are referring to gross income, AGI, or taxable income, though. I know I don’t like the consequences of going above $200k in AGI or taxable income and being pecked to death by the foolish chickens in Washington and Sacramento. I like to be able to write off as much real estate expense as I can and I don’t have earned income, so I avoid a lot of the tax traps.
I don’t have a problem paying for government, but I do object to pouring money down the rat hole that is the government we have today. $50,000 a year in income tax on top of all the property and sales tax I pay? Not if I can help it. Staying in the sweet spot keeps my taxes reasonable.
Yes sir. Based on my tax and public policy research, having an AGI of around $200,000 is the perfect number due to many arbitrary tax penalties that occur at levels higher.
At $200k or less, you can protest with the masses, not feel like you’re constantly being attacked by everybody, and get some wealth distribution by richer people.
Even better is to have a $5 million net worth max to avoid a 50% death tax on monies ovet and a $200k passive income
Latest for 2017: Passive Income Update 2017 – Finally Made It!
I’d love to make $500k/yr to find out if this poll result will be accurate in my case.
Don’t worry. I have, and it’s not accurate.
I’m currently at a 7/10. This is with a decent income but not even close to $75k.
For me, happiness IS about opportunity and progression like you said. I think I will be far happier when I move to a city where I have opportunities to progress.
I really can’t imagine anyone seriously paid for this research to be done. It’s so personal, subjective, and location based that it is meaningless.
Wow, that survey result shocks me. Not because I don’t think the $500k itself can’t bring you happiness, but I can’t possibly understand how you cannot be incredibly stressed out earning that sort of money. Although if a majority of that income was passive income, then yeah – I’d totally agree with the results!
From my current position (earning less than a third of that benchmark), I can’t see how I’m going to be much happier following my current career path to earn more money, primarily due to the additional stress and pressure. If I was earning the same, but had slightly less pressure, worked slightly less, a little more time for family, creative pursuits, and a couple of golf games during the week, then I’d be pretty close to a 10 :)
$500K passive income would be amazing! You’d need about $12-$20 million to make that kind of money.
10s are unicorns! But I think we all have brief moments of 10s in the past.
I think it’s not that how much you make, it’s how much you save and have. If you make 500k and spend 490k, you will be stressed out.
Agreed! Stress is a function of more than just income!
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, baby. Move up the pyramid. Once you’ve achieved everything on the pyramid, how much more do you need? I think most reasonably intelligent humans understand that money is just one facet of happiness; you need a certain amount to cover your true NEEDS in life; once you have that much, the rest of what one needs to be happy is stuff that money cannot buy.
I actually think that a lot of folks with excessive amounts of money are more unhappy because, with all the world at their disposal, they’re in a position of saying to themselves, “Wait— this is IT? I have all the money in the world, I can have anything I want…. so what’s left to strive for?” Of course, the smarter ones realize the principle about stuff that money can’t buy being the source of true happiness, yadda yadda, so they’re probably ok.
Personally, I’m Security Gal; I definitely believe that you’ve gotta have enough to cover your needs and have solid financial security as a starting place for happiness. I find the prospect of financial insecurity hugely stressful. Many other people don’t seem to have that limitation, however; there are a lot of folks who are poor but happy.
If I had, say, $5million in the bank and could quit my job and begin pursuing a life that felt more “authentic” to me, would I automatically be happier? Possibly, but I’d need to take advantage of the opportunity that freedom afforded me to line up all the other elements of happiness. To me the key elements of happiness are financial security, meaningful relationships, physical health, purpose in living, and mastery of something challenging and worthwhile. Financial security provides the base upon which to build everything else, because it provides the freedom and time to pursue those other elements.
“If I had, say, $5million in the bank and could quit my job and begin pursuing a life that felt more “authentic” to me, would I automatically be happier? ”
Answer: 100% absolutely. It is at least 1 point higher on your happiness scale.
The point of contention is how can 100% of people making over $500K say they are “very happy” and not be contested unless they’ve got some type of incentive to say so, or some threat against not answering so.
Although $500k a year would make me happy, I don’t think the additional responsibility would be worth it. I am happy with considerably less! It helps that I have a really big nest egg to satisfy all my wants. The additional money would probably just go to the tax man and possessions that I do not really need such as a more expensive car, home etc. For me, happiness comes from doing something worthwhile with my life. I may even do it for free after I retire!
It’s unfortunate the study didn’t further break down the $500,000+ category because I bet it would show 150% of the folks making $10mm+ are happy.
Hmmm… not sure how 150% of one group of folks can claim very happiness, but I get what you’re saying.
I don’t think making over 500K is the end all to happiness, I think every situation differs with debt, where you live, how hard you are working for your salary, if it is passive income, etc. I’m not sure what my number is but it’s not 500K.
Where I live, anything above $150,000 is enough to live a full life and save enough to feel “secure”. Above that, I believe there is declining marginal utility and you have to weigh heavily the costs. Personal example, giving up a little in salary in exchange for living in the mountains and being able to ski or bike every weekend (and summer evenings) – best decision ever! That said, if I had a $500,000 income, but with the same amount of stress and work commitments that I have now, of course I’d be happier! Who wouldn’t?
Agree. But I’m sure the stress and feelings of guilt or the desire to help others but feeling ineffective increases with that type of money.
The happiest I’ve ever been was whilst working for total peanuts at an activity camp. Money doesnt bring happiness, it just makes it easier to access.