행복을 드릴까요 돈을드릴까요라면 어느 것을 택하시겠습니까. 하기야 둘다 준다면야 아니 가질 수만 있다면 굳이 말할 필요도 없겠지요. 그러나 돈보다는 행복을 택하는 것이 낫지 않을까요. 우리 모둔 "돈으로 행복을 살 수 없다"라고 그렇게 변명으로 위로하기 일쑤지요. 그러나 여기 돈으로 행복을 산다는 사람이 나왔다. 펜실바니아대학교의 긍정정신심리센터에서 확실한 행복과 보다 완벽한 재정상태에대한 설문조사 연구를 발표했다. 일년에 가족 수입이 1억원인 가정을 대상으로 조사했는 데 그 중 40% 아주 행복하다고 답했다고 한다. 이들의 수입이 7500만원으로 떨어졌을 때는 38%가 행복하다고 응답했고 또 3000만원으로 떨어졌을 때도 이들 중 28%가 아주 행복하다고 답했다 한다. 포브스가 세계 100대 거부와 로또 당첨자를 상대로 조사한 바에 의하면 그들은 상대적으로 들 행복하며 미국의 보통 사람의 평균행복을 밑돌았고 또 로또 당첨자는 당첨되지 못한자만큼 행복하지 않았다고 한다. 수십년전 미국의인플레이션으로 그들의 자본 수익이 3배로 늘어났으도 그 행복수치는 변하지 않았다고 한다. 실제 현실로 돌아와서 , 우리 모두는 확실한 변동없는 행복을 고용주나 정부의 보험기관이 해결해주길 바라고 있다. 그러나 현금의 추세는 개인이 준비해얄 쪽으로 가고 있다. 월말에 지급할 모든 비용과 노후생활의 모든대비는 내가 해야 한다는것이다. 돈이 없어도 아름다은 연인과의 관계로 행복할 수 있고 가족들과의 화목한 관계로도 행복할 수 있다고강변 주장 침을 튀길 수도 있다.그러나 그런 관계도 돈으로 유지 발전 성장 되는 것이다. "퓨리서치센터"는 이런 질문으로 끝을 맺는다. 그대가 더 많은 돈을 벌고 있는 동안에도 그대는 실제로는 더 많은 돈을 벌고 있는 게 아니다.현실은 가정이 실제적으로 부채를 안고 있으며토직후 정년후 노후대비저축대학 수업료 월말 지급비용 등등 돈을 생각하면 행복을 떠올리기는 어렵다는 것이다. 단지 더 많은 돈이 더 많은 행복을 의미하지는 않는다면서,,,, 설문은 아직도 계속되고. 그 누구도 어떤 기관도 이를 명쾌히 정의 하지를 못하고 있다. 일의 결국은 "나"다. 세상에 세상만사에는 정답은 없다. 절대로 없다 혹 있다고 굳이 있다면 종답 그건 "나" 바로 "나"다. 한발에 행복을 한발에 돈을 굳게 밟고 서서 그 가치를 그 기준을 "나"가 찾아 만들어내어야 한다. "나"가 없는 세상 그건 나와는 아무런 관계도 의미도 없다. 그러기에 오늘도 해는 동에서 뜨고 칠팔월 여름은 "나"를 테스트하는 푹푹찌는 폭염인지도 모르겠다.매미소리만...Count Your Blessings -- and Your Money Utility Links I'd be the last person to tell you that money can buy happiness, but I'm fascinated by recent reports insisting that money isn't a major factor in whether or not people are happy. Please. Positive psychology (that's what academicians call the study of human happiness) is a hot field of research, an interesting questionnaire that's been getting a lot of press.
Yet nowhere in the 24-question Authentic Happiness Inventory does the issue of money -- or, more important, our desire for financial security -- merit a mention. Hmm.
A Conspicuous Omission
Given how expensive our lives are, how can money not be a factor? We have huge mortgages and tapped-out home equity lines of credit weighing on us. College tuition bills have never been more daunting. Our employers are less likely to give us a defined benefit pension, so the onus is on us -- and our 401(k)s -- to figure out how we'll be able to afford retirement. If we're lucky enough to get health insurance through our employer, the trend is for each of us to be responsible for a greater portion of the bill.
I would love to live in a world where authentic happiness was achievable solely from the richness of relationships, but I'm a realist. And the reality I see -- and that so many of you write to me about -- is one in which money plays into our ability to be truly happy.
Yes, I've heard about the study of lottery winners that showed they were not relatively happier than those who hadn't won the lottery, and the one reporting that folks on the Forbes 100 list (the wealthiest people alive) weren't much happier than the average American.
Those studies show that being filthy rich doesn't ensure happiness, but that's not something most of us have to contend with.
I'm talking about how your happiness is affected when you're worried about how you'll pay the bills at the end of the month, save for the future, and be able to afford to retire. In other words, how you'll make ends meet. When those worries are your reality, I think it's ridiculously hard to be authentically happy.
Happiness Is Income-Sensitive
Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so. A survey conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center reports that, overall, just 34 percent of respondents are very happy.
But when you start to slice the findings by income, it gets very interesting: 49 percent of respondents with an annual family income above $100,000 say they are very happy. When income falls between $75,000 and $100,000, the very-happy contingent falls to 38 percent. Just 24 percent of those with incomes below $30,000 said they were very happy.
I want to be quite clear: I'm in no way saying that money is all that matters. But I'm so tired of how scared everyone is to admit that money does in fact make a difference in the quality of our lives.
A Family Affair
Most of you would probably say that what makes you truly happy is your family and the love you share in your relationships, and I couldn't agree more. But money comes into play in those relationships, too.
When I talk about money this way to a group, invariably someone comes up to me afterward and give me a "tsk, tsk" look and says, "Suze, you are so wrong. Money isn't the key to life, this is!" At which point their wallet flies open and they show me a photo of their family.
That's when things get interesting, because I start asking them questions: Did you take that photo with your own camera? It looks like a beautiful beach; was the photo taken on a family vacation? Are those braces I see on the two teenagers? Do you hope to help those beautiful kids go to college? As their heads bob in successive "yes" nods, I ask them how they provide all of that for their family. That's when they understand that I had it right. 
Richer, But Not Happier
At the risk of repeating myself, I totally agree that family and friends are vital to our well being; without meaningful relationships, there's no chance of ever being truly, authentically happy. That's why, every Saturday night, I end my CNBC show with the following words: "People first. Then money. Then things."
But money does have a place at the table. If you don't have money to buy things, you're going to be very frustrated. It's just that simple.
How we handle the money we have also plays into our happiness. The Pew survey points out that over the past few decades, the percentage of Americans who say they're happy hasn't changed much (it hovers at around one-third of the population), while at the same time the average per capita income has doubled in inflation-adjusted dollars. So we have more money, but we're not much happier on average.
A paradox? Far from it. My sense is that we while we're making more money, we aren't making more of the money we make. We have a ton of debt, and we have to worry about saving for retirement in a way that our parents and grandparents never did. And as many of you know, it's really hard to boost your happiness quotient when you've got a lot of money worries.
Where Are You on the Money/Happiness Scale?
Do you agree, or am I way off base? I'd love to know what you think about the money/happiness connection. So answer the following questions and find out how you stack up with your fellow readers and happiness-seekers.
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