I’m guessing the phrase originated with people who have money?
I think it’s more like, people who have transitioned from having no money, where money would solve a lot of problems, to having money, where those problems have been replaced with other problems, and they are shocked to discover that having money doesn’t eliminate all problems. Even if they have fewer problems than they did when they had no money, their current problems are more frustrating because they expected to have fewer problems with more money.
I feel like there’s got to be a point on the curve where the money to problems ratio is just right lol.
The hard part is that point moves. I have very few problems. And insurance covers some things (supposedly). But if my spouse died and I suddenly had to throw child care into the mix, and changing my schedule to be the one that takes them to/from school… I could easily wind up where new problems form. I thought I had enough money, but I only had enough money for the specific circumstances
Some people stressed about paying rent. Some people stressed about paying mortgage. Some people stressed about paying loan on their investment. Some people stressed about being assassinated on the street.
It’s more of a gratitude and cash flow issue. You can stopped at any point, but most people just want more.
There was a study about that around 15 years ago and the number was $78,000. Money does make you happy and solve problems to an extent, or rather it eliminates miserable situations created by poverty. Beyond that though, it’s up to you to find happiness. This was 15 years ago, so that number is probably double now.
Problems Vs money looks more like y = (x - 5)^2 + 2
Ideally, you would aim to have roughly 5 units of money, because at that point, you’ll have the least amount problems possible. If you have more ore less, there will be more problems. Interestingly, if you have negative money (i.e. debt) you can have lots of problems, but so do those who have a lot of money. Also, the amount of problems you have increases quite rapidly as you deviate away from the sweet spot.
More like “more claims denied = more problems (for the CEO)”
Because you only get mo problems after you get mo than you need.
Not sure what it is with inflation, but a while ago the number was like 75k?
Money = happiness until you reach whatever threshold that’s at today, and after that mo money doesn’t get you mo happiness, just mo problems.
I believe the number is now closer to $110k and even then you are one major hospital visit from being back on the problems train.
The trick is to make more money, but don’t live like you do. Just save the money. And then be able to retire young with millions in the bank
Yep.
A big tip that helps is most people aren’t wired to hoard resources, so when we accumulate a lot our brains want to trade that for a dopamine hit which can lead to reckless spending.
But our brains are kind of stupid, and easy to trick.
Drop $100 on a fun thing, or go online and make an extra mortgage payment, pay a credit card, or even just deposit it into a savings account.
Our brain just sees that resources went down, a good thing happened, and dumps some dopamine.
I only read the original study years ago and never saw any followups.
But as far as our brains are concerned, the same thing just happened, so it gives the same dopamine.
more oxygen = more problems / no oxygen = no problems
