Can You Be Rich and Miserable?

by Vered DeLeeuw · 28 comments


Of course you can.

If celebrity culture is teaching us anything, it is that yes, you can have lots of money and still be miserable, so miserable in fact that you ruin your life with addictions, even lose your life to them.

I recently watched an interesting movie on DVD, Meet Bill. Not a masterpiece but certainly entertaining and also thought-provoking. The guy, Bill, married into a rich family. He works in the family business, lives a life of luxury, and you would think he has a great life – except that his father in law, his brother in law and his wife all disrespect him. He’s bored, unfulfilled, miserable, and desperately wants to make it on his own.

Money IS Important

Money may not guarantee happiness, but I’ll never tell you that money is not important, because I know it is. Money helps us ensure that our basic human needs such as food, shelter, and clothing are always met, whether we’re employed or not. When you have money, you don’t need to worry about whether you would be able to provide for your family and you are free to pursue what interests you in terms of occupation and hobbies.

Money buys you peace of mind, and this is priceless. The problem begins when we expect money to buy us happiness. This is a problem, because money doesn’t always guarantee happiness, and in fact, there are lots of cases where getting a large amount of money has ruined people’s lives.

What Are Your Expectations?

It’s all about expectations. We all strive to have more money – but what do we expect to achieve through that? If you have a very narrow focus on money as something that frees you from daily worries and enables you to do more with your life, that’s great. But if you view money as the ticket to living “the good life” and being happy, you might find yourself bitterly disappointed.

Rich and Unhappy = Ungrateful?

People who have money but are unhappy sometimes seem ungrateful. When I watched that movie, my first reaction was, “Oh, get over it and start being grateful for what you have!” When I read the tabloids as the supermarket checkout line, I often think that celebrities are just spoiled brats. How can they take everything they have and ruin it all? How can they blow all that money off on luxuries and – worse – on drugs and alcohol – and end up so lonely and miserable?

But they often do, which provides proof, again and again, that indeed money does not buy happiness.

Rich and Miserable Beats Poor and Miserable

Whenever I bring up this subject, my husband smiles and tells me that “It’s better to be rich and miserable than to be poor and miserable,” and I guess he’s right. But while being poor and miserable makes sense to me – after all if you’re poor you have a lot to worry about, being rich and miserable seems almost sinful. If you have the money to free you from the daily struggle to survive, don’t you owe it to yourself to make the most out of your life, and to also give back to your community?

Choose Happy, Not Rich

So, do you want money or happiness?

You may be thinking how you can’t afford to choose because you have bills to pay, but are you willing to spend your life chasing dreams that may never come true, allowing memories and wonder to pass without notice?

How can you afford not to choose happiness? Imagine it’s a decade later and your children are grown. The time you intended to spend focusing on your health soared by you with zero improvements. Your most prominent memories see you struggling and scraping to “make it.” You remember long nights at work. You remember drive-thru dinners and very little else.

You chose “Rich”.

You didn’t choose “Happy”.

Choose Happy

No matter what else is on your plate, you can make the decision to be happy, to accept where you are in life, remind yourself of what you already have, and work to get to where you want to be.

Choosing to be happy doesn’t mean you’re choosing acceptance without working for the prize. You can choose to be content and still work towards being rich. Will you be fabulously wealthy one day? Maybe, and maybe not – but you’ll be happy along the entire journey and use your precious time worrying less and being more grateful.

And I know it’s hard. Here are a few steps that will help.

Make the decision to be happy

How to Make Happy a Priority

  1. Make your commitment, and stick to it.
  2. Every morning, wake up and renew your vow to find a little (or a lot) of happiness in everything. This is key; when you wake up on a positive note, it sets your mind for the day.
  3. When you feel the negative pull of friends or family, remind yourself of your goal and nudge them to your side. Program your brain for an automatic response that kicks you into positivity before the negativity can pull you down.
  4. Remind yourself each night before you sleep of every happiness you found that day.
  5. Don’t let go of your dream. If you want to be rich, be smart about your goals, and work toward them with savvy. Work when it’s time to work. Relax when your body needs it. But, most importantly, nurture those around you.
  6. Avoid negative news and gossip as much as you can. There’s bad news everywhere these days. Change the channel or turn it off. You want to feed your mind with positive news. Despite the world seemingly falling apart right now, there are still plenty of good that’s happening in the world.
  7. Nourish your body with healthy foods. What you power your body with affects how you think and feel. When you feed yourself artificial chemicals and harmful sugars, you alter your body’s natural chemistry and hormone balance. That alters your perception.
  8. Give your body the movement it craves. We weren’t built to be sedentary, but today’s society isn’t geared toward natural movement like we were in the past. This means we must dig up our own. Make your body move: exercise is an incredibly effective stress reliever, and that in turn will help you be happier.
  9. Sleep when tired. We so often push ourselves to stay up later than we should. Sleep deprivation shifts our vision toward the negative. Without proper sleep, it’s hard to be happy.

I’m not going to lie. Choosing happiness over money is difficult, but these steps can make it a lot easier.

Are you feeling miserable but rich, or miserable and poor? There are plenty of happy people rich and poor alike. What will you do differently today so you join that enviable group of people?

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{ read the comments below or add one }

  • Artie whitefox says:

    Satan is miserable wanting god’s image to be miserable. Satan wants us to be as miserable as that being is. That being had it all, being Lucifer goofing up everything, thinking that being could have more. Money cannot change how that being feels. Satan is feeling miserable in people who have a false sense of wealth. People who cannot do what Jesus taught, are feeling miserable too. They look at whatever store – shopping center- reasarunt – hardware store etc. requiring money, as a tree that they cannot go to. People are miserable having to get rid of inventory, for new whatever, in the next year. Those miserable people are under pressure to sell whatever. The person is under pressure to have enough money to buy whatever, to fill their store again. Pressure to pay taxes, and bills. Jesus does not want us to be under all of that pressure. God’s image, giving to god’s image, what is god’s, will take that pressure away.

  • Artie Whitefox says:

    God makes others to be happy, through us. Real free cannot be untill money is no more. Money did not exist in he begginning.

  • Artie Whitefox says:

    Satan is miserable wanting god’s image to be miserable. Satan wants us to be as miserable as that being is. That being had it all, being Lucifer goofing up everything, thinking that being could have more. Money cannot change how that being feels. Satan is feeling miserable in people who have a false sense of wealth. People who cannot do what Jesus taught, are feeling miserable too. They look at whatever, as an tree that they cannot go to. People are mineable having to get rid of inventory, for new whatever, in the next year. Those miserable people are under pressure to sell whatever. The person is under pressure to have enough money to buy whatever to fill their store again. Pressure to pay taxes, and bills. Jesus does not want us to be under all of that pressure. God’s image, giving to god’s image, what is god’s, will take that pressure away.

  • Artie Whitefox says:

    Satan is miserable wanting god’s image to be miserable. Satan wants us to be as miserable as that being is. That being had it all, being Lucifer goofing up everything, thinking that being could have more. Money cannot change how that being feels. Satan is feeling miserable in people who have a a false sense of wealth. People who cannot do what Jesus taught, are feeling miserable too. People are mineable having to get rid of inventory, for new whatever for the next year. Those miserable people are under pressure to sell whatever. The person is under pressure to have enough money to buy whatever to fill their store again. Pressure to pay taxes, and bills. Jesus does not want us to be under all of that pressure. God’s image, giving to god’s image, what is god’s, will take that pressure away.

  • Artie Whitefox says:

    Satan is miserable wanting god’s image to be miserable. Satan wants us to be as miserable as that being is. That being had it all, being Lucifer goofed up everyrthing thinking that being could have more. Money cannot change how that being feels. Satan is feeling miserable in people who have a a false sense of wealth. People who cannot do what Jesus taught, are feeling miserable too. People are mineable having to get rid of inventory, for new whatever for the next year. Those miserable people are under pressure to sell whatever. The person is under pressure to have enough money to buy whatever to fill their store again. Pressure to pay taxes, and bills. Jesus does not want us to be under all of that pressure. God’s image, giving to god’s image, what is god’s, will take that pressure away.

  • Mr Whyninetofive says:

    We have swapped money for happiness. We had nice well paying (bit boring) jobs. We have been saving last 2 decades quite hard. At certain point 2016 we have decided we have enough and investment income can replace the salary. It is way under average wage level but we have 100% of the week for us and our toddler twin boys. We think time is the most precious thing you can have.

    We are quite proud of our achievement. We can only encourage everyone to try buy back your time. I am writing about it on my blog.
    Cheers
    Mr Whyninetofive

  • Michelle says:

    Celebrities ARE spoiled brats. All this freedom and money and so many of them whine and ruin their own life. Change my mind! 😀

    • David @ MoneyNing.com says:

      Ha! Some celebrities definitely need to get some perspective but I’m sure there are plenty that has a level head too.

  • Frugal Rachel says:

    There are so many examples of rich people who are miserable that sometimes I feel like people are actually happier without money.

    We mere mortals obviously worry more because of lack of funds but many of us are happy nonetheless.

    • David @ MoneyNing.com says:

      I much rather have money but you may be onto something Frugal Rachel.

      When some of the rich stop worrying about having enough money, then they shift their focus and cause more issues for themselves and even other people.

  • Beau W says:

    The fear of missing out is one reason for people being miserable. Spending money they should be saving. That will make you feel happy for awhile. Money can make you happy yes but if your rich and Unhappy what’s the point. I’d rather be middle class and happy. Enjoy the little things .

    • David @ MoneyNing.com says:

      You have the right attitude Beau. Who cares how much money I have if I’m unhappy all the time right?

  • Agatha @ Free Money Tips says:

    To me, money represents freedom. If you manage it wisely it gives you the freedom to do what you want when you want, rather than living the life as an economic slave. It’s the people that acquire money for ego, greed, or to keep up with the Joneses that always seem to end up miserable.

  • Life Coaching says:

    Money is nothing but an inanimate object with no inate value. We assign value to it. The gentleman giving it away has assigned more pain than value to his money, so therefore, it is his opinion that is causing him the unhappiness, not the money itself. Very interesting story though, thanks for sharing.

  • Bonnie says:

    Very interesting topic. I am a mobile pet groomer in So Cal and have clients from all areas of greater Los Angeles. I see up close and personal how people live. Some of my weathy clients are so unhappy and some of my poor clients happy. Why? A lot has to do with family ties, and how close they are or are not to their families. True wealth is found in our human relationships, not in our bank accounts. Some people have a better relationship and spend more money on their pets then their children.

  • Steve Jobs says:

    Obviously, the rich does not know what happiness means. They all have the money to spend but they can’t buy happiness since they don’t know what to buy for. I can be poor but happy and contented because I know what happiness means. Until you cannot define happiness for yourself, rich or poor you will be miserable.

  • Friar says:

    Maybe the miserable people would have been miserable, regardless of how much money they had. And money just helped speed up the process.

  • Jenna says:

    I think it comes down to passion, which is frustrating to watch someone who “has it all” yet has no passion. People with money can afford to take more risks to find what makes them happy and help others but are sometimes controlled by their responsibilities and “stuff”. Bummer.

  • MoneyNing says:

    I used to think that people who with money have it all, so it was easy for me to feel strongly about people who are rich and miserable. But I slowly began to realize that it’s a somewhat incorrect view. Money is great to have, similar to how it’s great to be tall, or coordinated, or energetic, but having it, while helps in many different ways, doesn’t mean life will just take care of itself.

    Money is like possessing a good character trait. You still have to use it to your advantage to be happy. Otherwise, you’re like that smart guy you know who never applied himself.

  • marci357 says:

    Miserable is an attitude – a self-inflicted….. and anyone can change their attitude if they WANT to 🙂

    Money did not ruin those people’s lives – misuse or abuse of it did…. and if they had put it into a trust, then the brother attempting to kill for it would not have worked 🙂

  • KM says:

    I think the rich people that are miserable in their lives are either:

    -the ones that work and work and don’t actually have any hobbies or spend enough time with their families, which are huge happiness boosters, or

    -the ones that earned huge amounts very quickly and maybe early on (celebrities, athletes, etc) and don’t know how to be responsible with it and use it to actually make them happy (VIP parties, for example, don’t make anyone happy in the long term).

    Of course, there are exceptions to both of those types, but it seems to be a pattern. Money does not cause happiness on its own, but money is a tool that one can use to create happiness. Just like if you don’t know how to use a hammer to drive in a nail, you won’t be able to build anything, if you don’t know how to use money as a tool, then it won’t bring you any happiness (you can still be happy, just not because of money).

  • LoveBeingRetired says:

    Good observations – I agree that money is important at many levels from security to providing a little freedom to do what you want. But how much money is enough? A lot of people just keep pushing and working incredible hours, adding more and more to a nest egg that may already be sufficient for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. And the cost in terms of a sub-par relationship with your family and friends, playing second fiddle while you work long hours to ever increase your nest egg, is something that cannot be fixed. Trade-offs exist in everything so we need to be sure we account for the real cost of stockpiling more money than we may really need.

    • vered says:

      “How much money is enough?” That’s a fascinating question. It seems that the more people have, the more they want. Perhaps it’s human nature to never be satisfied with what you’ve got – and I guess it has a silver lining too, because it keeps us productive and working, which is good for us and good for the economy.

      • KM says:

        There was an article about that recently somewhere. I think the number was $75k annually as the magic earnings number which provides enough to be happy and not worried about money, while everything above that doesn’t translate to more happiness.

        • marci357 says:

          more like $20,000 🙂

        • MoneyNing says:

          I think you have to take that number with grain of salt. Never mind that the number is different in different places, but it’s easy for everyone to read that and be happy if they make over that income, but $75k now does mean $75k for life.

          Just because you have $75k now doesn’t mean you will have $75k (or more when inflation kicks in) when you are 70 years old, so take savings into account too.

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