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It is a heavily researched question and the consensus is…yes, it can. One of the key benefits that money provides is safety and security. Having enough money eliminates anxiety when shopping or making large purchases. Money also affords you memorable life experiences that bring joy and happiness, allows you to help loved ones, and give back to your community.
But just how much money do you need to be happy? To answer that question, we narrowed the focus of this conversation down to how much money and what kind of experiences do the happiest people in retirement have in common.
Helping me explore this question is Wes Moss, author of the book You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think: The 5 Money Secrets of the Happiest Retirees. Wes is also Chief Investment Strategist at Capital Investment Advisors and host of Money Matters, an investment and personal finance radio show. The research conducted for his book quantifies the financial habits of happy people versus unhappy people.
Whether you call it happiness or peace of mind, money CAN provide a freedom that allows you to truly enjoy your life in retirement and, according to Wes’ research, you might not need as much as everyone is telling you that you need. Remember, the happiest retirees
- Have a median of $500,000 in liquid net assets (up to $850,000)
- Once you get above that amount, you’ll experience “diminishing marginal happiness”
- The happiest retirees average 3.5 core pursuits and have an average of 2.5 children. (Listen to find out exactly what that means)
- And the happiest retirees live in the middle when it comes to shopping and dining out. Not too cheap and not too expensive.
You’ll find the common traits among the happiest retirees to be very enlightening. I hope you’ll listen to discover more.
