Curiosity@Intelsense

Your weekly dose of wisdom

How much money is enough? This interesting article discusses the amount that buys happiness.

The point to note in the article is that happiness tends to peak with an income of around $500,000 per year as opposed to the previously available research which suggested that happiness “plateaus” between $60,000 and $90,000 a year.

You cannot just multiply the dollar amount by the exchange rate and come up with the equivalent rupee value. But the idea is important. Money has diminishing marginal utility. After a point, every additional rupee has lesser and lesser charm.

Most would already be aware of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It has five levels.

1. Physiological needs

2. Safety and Security needs

3. Loving and Belonging needs

4. Esteem needs

5. Self-actualization needs

In my experience and probably because I started from level 1, a person tends to toggle between levels 1 and 2 for many years. For most middle-class Indians, their entire life goes trapped between these two levels. Once you move decisively out of the first two levels and on to levels three, four and hopefully five, the money you have becomes less of a factor.

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger both have said at various times that to be happy you need to keep low expectations, do the job you enjoy doing, work with people you like and always remain curious and a lifelong learner. In fact, one of the reasons I write this weekly blog post is to force myself to keep learning and exploring new things every week. This is more for myself than for others!!

Thought of the Week:

When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude towards it; you can either accept it or resent it.

Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor what they seem to be. They are what they are.

~ The Art of Living by Epictetus

Video of the Week:

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Intelsense Insights:

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