This Awesome Science Vid Asks: Can Money Buy You Happiness?

Yeah, yeah, we know it's an old question, but haven't you ever wondered? Can money buy you happiness?

It depends.

In achieving personal happiness, the folks at AsapSCIENCE say it’s not so much that amount of cash that matters -- it's how it's spent.

“Humans are very sensitive to change: When we get a raise or commission, we really enjoy it — but we adapt at incredible speeds to our new wealth,” a new video from the group explains. “Some studies have shown that in North America additional income beyond $75,000 a year ceases to impact day-to-day happiness.”

What impacts day-to-day happiness? Experiencing new things (and sharing those experiences) and voluntarily giving to others (as opposed to being coerced into doing it [i.e. taxation]). Basically, exercising the virtue of charity.

If that's true, and day-to-day happiness is impacted by being charitable, then we can say the following: Monetary wealth allows us to be (financially) generous, generosity allows us to exercise a form of charity, being charitable makes us happy, therefore money can buy happiness -- "if spent the right way."

"[I]f you think money and happiness are exclusive, you simply aren't spending it right," the AsapSCIENCE video claims:

Pretty cool, right? Let us know what you think in the comments section.

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(H/T: brainpickings.org). Featured images courtesy Getty Images.