Books explore links between money and happiness
The Beatles told us money "Can't Buy Me Love," but can money buy happiness?
That's a question of great exploration and academic research lately. And it's infiltrated the pages of some best-selling books that aren't specifically about that topic.
Here is a sampling of relatively recent book titles that address in drastically different ways the issue of money and happiness.
-"Stop Acting Rich" by Thomas J. Stanley. Stanley was co-author of the wildly popular 1996 book "The Millionaire Next Door," which drew on survey data to show true millionaires often don't look the part, and are usually quite frugal. In his newest book, the former marketing professor again delves into the data, this time to reveal the real brands millionaires buy. Hint: The brands aren't Grey Goose vodka, Rolex watches and BMW cars. His overarching point is that true millionaires, not wannabes trying to look the part, are often happy with functional brands and have no need to show off. The No. 1 watch brand among millionaires? Seiko. The No. 1 car? Toyota.
One unmistakable attribute of the truly rich is they live in modest neighborhoods, given their wealth. As a result, they don't feel the social pressure to spend extravagantly and are happier for it. A person with $100,000 household income is likely to be happy in a neighborhood where everybody else makes $75,000, but unhappy in a place where neighbors make $200,000.
Overall, there's no evidence a big-spending, glittering lifestyle leads to more life satisfaction, Stanley says. In fact, his research shows the more money you spend trying to look rich, the less likely you ever will be.
-"The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This is not a money book at all. Instead, it's partly a memoir of a wife, mother and writer on a year-long quest to achieve more happiness. And it's partly a self-help book, backed by thorough research into the topic of happiness and feedback from her popular blog, happiness-project.com.
Still, money comes into play throughout Rubin's exploration. It's not that she's dealing with a lack of money -- she describes living a comfortable lifestyle. Instead, it offers ways to use money to increase happiness.
The Beatles told us money "Can't Buy Me Love," but can money buy happiness?
That's a question of great exploration and academic research lately. And it's infiltrated the pages of some best-selling books that aren't specifically about that topic.
Here is a sampling of relatively recent book titles that address in drastically different ways the issue of money and happiness.
-"Stop Acting Rich" by Thomas J. Stanley. Stanley was co-author of the wildly popular 1996 book "The Millionaire Next Door," which drew on survey data to show true millionaires often don't look the part, and are usually quite frugal. In his newest book, the former marketing professor again delves into the data, this time to reveal the real brands millionaires buy. Hint: The brands aren't Grey Goose vodka, Rolex watches and BMW cars. His overarching point is that true millionaires, not wannabes trying to look the part, are often happy with functional brands and have no need to show off. The No. 1 watch brand among millionaires? Seiko. The No. 1 car? Toyota.
One unmistakable attribute of the truly rich is they live in modest neighborhoods, given their wealth. As a result, they don't feel the social pressure to spend extravagantly and are happier for it. A person with $100,000 household income is likely to be happy in a neighborhood where everybody else makes $75,000, but unhappy in a place where neighbors make $200,000.
Overall, there's no evidence a big-spending, glittering lifestyle leads to more life satisfaction, Stanley says. In fact, his research shows the more money you spend trying to look rich, the less likely you ever will be.
-"The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This is not a money book at all. Instead, it's partly a memoir of a wife, mother and writer on a year-long quest to achieve more happiness. And it's partly a self-help book, backed by thorough research into the topic of happiness and feedback from her popular blog, happiness-project.com.
Still, money comes into play throughout Rubin's exploration. It's not that she's dealing with a lack of money -- she describes living a comfortable lifestyle. Instead, it offers ways to use money to increase happiness.
