A study by financial planner Empower found that 59% of Americans believe money can buy happiness, and it costs around $1.2 million. The majority of respondents equate financial happiness with on-time bill payment and being debt-free, while just 17% said it can be defined by a certain net worth.
According to the Empower “Financial Happiness” study, which surveyed 2,034 Americans over the age of 18 between Aug. 7 and 14, there was an overall margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. Pollsters found that the first word that comes to people’s minds when asked about financial happiness is “freedom,” followed by “security” and “relief.”
The average salary Americans said would make them happy was $284,167 per year. The men’s price point was significantly higher at $381,000 compared to the average $183,000 for women. There was also a significant generational divide in the salary expectations: Millennials listed the highest average salary at $525,000, while Generation Z said $128,000; Generation X said $130,000; and Boomers said $124,000.
More than seven in ten respondents stated that having more money would solve most of their problems. Nearly one-third (32%) said gaining $15,