The moment when money truly brings happiness

Do money bring happiness? The Monopoly game philosophy

When I was little, I loved playing Monopoly, the game where money indeed brings happiness. I believe you remember it. You started with a certain amount of money, rolled the dice, and bought properties on which you built houses aiming to bankrupt other players. Yes, an example of a game where money brings happiness. :)

There was an unwritten rule that said if you bought more properties earlier, you could sell them for more later because all players 1) would have more money and 2) would need properties to build neighborhoods to win the game.

At the beginning, each of the four players received $2000, so there were $8000 on the game board. Every time you passed “start,” you received $200, and you also received bonuses if you landed on the “Chance” or “Community Chest” spaces. So, more money entered the game that way.

The worst move was to make no move at all: not buying anything, not selling anything. That way, other players had properties and made even more money from them. Over time, more money entered the game, much more than the initial $8000.

As a result, properties were sold and bought much more expensively than their initial value at the beginning of the game. Therefore, in the long run, it was much more beneficial to acquire goods than money because goods increased in value and brought in more money, whereas money itself just became more plentiful and more useless.

Do money bring happiness? Inflation explained

It’s the same with real life. Goods have their intrinsic value, but their prices always rise because there is more and more money in the world. Houses have had and will have the value of security, cars the value of transportation and time savings, and food the value of survival.

However, their prices rise and keep rising because more and more money is printed in the world economy, but goods always remain the same.

Let’s assume I have 10 pens, you have five notebooks, and your friend has a book. Each of us receives $10. One pen is worth $1, your notebook $2, and your friend’s book $10. So, we can do one of two things: either I give you two pens for your notebook or 10 pens for your friend’s book, or I can buy with money: $2 for the notebook or $10 for the book. Whether I offer money or another good in exchange, the transaction is fair and correct.

But let’s assume that miraculously, each of us receives another $10 tomorrow. Now each of us has $20. Now, I’m happy because I have twice as much money, so I can buy twice as many things — money brings happiness, I say.

In reality, the other people won’t be as interested in my money because they also received $10. So, in terms of the ratio, we are all equal, just like at the beginning.

Having $10 each is the same as having $1 million each. The goods are the same, but our purchasing power has doubled in our example. And the others won’t want to sell at the same price anymore.

In this case, we can still keep the first option where I offer a good for another good because the intrinsic value of pens, notebooks, and books doesn’t change. But I can’t buy with the same amount of money anymore due to the imbalance between how much money each has and what goods they offer.

If miraculously every person on this earth receives €100,000 tomorrow, do you think anyone would sell their apartment for this money? Of course not, they would probably ask for double, €200,000, because now money is twice as much and thus twice as useless, but the value of the real estate property is the same because you can always live in it.

It’s simple: when you have more money for the same quantity of goods, it’s normal for it to be divided among everyone. When we all have money but no one to sell, it’s normal for the one who sells to ask for more. Yes, money brings happiness momentarily, but only superficially. In reality, they have absolutely no value.

When money truly brings happiness

Money brings happiness in reality when you don’t focus on money but on creating value. As I’ve mentioned, money keeps losing its value, but the value you produce is inherently useful. Moreover, if you focus on earning paper, you won’t have time to focus on producing value… and you won’t have papers.

You can’t earn money honestly without producing value. Yes, you can steal, you can cheat the system, you can borrow or receive for free, but in the long run, the value you produce attracts money into your life.

The more you work, the more goods, the more value you produce. The more value you produce, the better you’re paid. Only by respecting this natural cycle of money can you truly say that money brings happiness to you.

During the period from 2009 to 2019, the population of the United States of America increased by over 329 million from 304 million, with an inflation of 16.63%. This means that any good in 2019 was 16.63% more expensive than in 2009 because the need for goods increased due to the fact that there are more people on earth.

We live in a materialistic world. That’s the truth. So, money brings happiness only if we consider the material nature of this world. The saying that money is not important is greatly exaggerated.

I’m not saying that money brings happiness entirely, I’m just saying that it’s an important element that we have to consider and use wisely. Only then do money truly bring happiness.

Do money bring happiness? The psychological answer

Yes, money brings happiness, but only to a certain point and only in a certain way.

Firstly, money brings happiness only when we use it virtuously and not selfishly. Being connected to everything around us, our actions must be attributed to our fellow human beings.

Thus, money brings happiness if we use it not only for personal gain but also to do good for others. If we seek money only for our own good, we will develop feelings of selfishness and pride, and our egocentric attitude will keep happiness at bay.

Secondly, money brings happiness only if you have a certain sum to meet your needs.