How much to make you happy?

YOUR local hairdresser hasn’t got a salary anything like a top executive, but they are just as happy with life, a new study suggests.

Average salaries of over 200 different occupations were compared with workers’ reported levels of happiness, and while the study found that in general the higher the salary the happier workers reported to be, not all jobs fitted the trend.

Fitness instructors in the UK, for example, take home an average of €14,000 a year, but are actually happier than lawyers who earn an average of €90,000. Meanwhile dental nurses, who earn an average of €20,000 were found to be happier than dentists who make an average of €65,000.

The study says that there is definitely a correlation between income and happiness, but that money actually buys less happiness than people assume. And in some ways, it buys happiness only up to a certain point. Workers earning over €100,000 and upwards annually are not any happier than those earning a good salary below €100,000. Happiness levels don’t keep rising the more money one has!

It turns out, what you do with your money seems to matter just as much to your happiness as how much you make. And the advice is to spend on experiences and not stuff. Material goods may last longer, but studies shows that life experiences – like trips, fancy dinners, and spa treatments – provide a person with much more satisfaction in the long run.

For example, if you are a fan of the theatre, then go buy tickets to a play. That will make you happy.

However, don’t waste your money on experiences that are not your thing, as this type of spending is likely to leave us feeling just as empty as spending money on possessions that lose their novelty minutes after we buy them.