Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Although earlier studies suggested that money can only buy people so much happiness, a more recent survey suggests that the more money a person has, the happier they are likely to be, and there is no upper limit. The ultra-wealthy, according to the study, are happier than the wealthy and well-off. The earlier study found there was an upper limit and that happiness hit a high at $75,000 a year and did not increase even as people earned more than this figure.

Experts suggest that the additional happiness is not just a result of being able to buy more things. Matthe Killingsworth, senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School says that “when people have more money, they have more control”.

Having more money does make it easier to budget and plan, and it also means people have more expendable income for favorite pastimes and hobbies, whether that’s traveling and seeing new places, dining out several times a week, or even enjoying online games. Thankfully, the best payout casino sites do have low minimum deposits, so people of all budgets can partake. But, as crypto writer Michael Graw points out, there are some sites with maximum deposits as high as $500,000, especially suitable for crypto gambling enthusiasts or those looking to try and grow their wealth even further.

The average annual salary in the U.S. is $60,000 per annum, which falls just below what was considered the peak happiness level. The average salary in Minnesota, meanwhile, is around $52,000.

The oft-cited study from 2010, also compiled by Killingsworth, surmised that happiness reached a peak for people on salaries of $75,000 per annum and didn’t increase as salaries got higher.

However, following continued research, Killingsworth has deduced that his earlier findings may not be true and that there is, in fact, no salary ceiling for happiness. In the study, participants were asked to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 7 with 7 being happiest.

Low-income individuals, with a salary less than $30,000, had a happiness rating of 4. Those with a salary of $500,000 gave their happiness above a level 5. Multimillionaires, earning much higher than this, had a rating closer to 6, and the higher the average salary, the higher the average happiness for participants.

One factor that may affect happiness and is certainly dependent on salary is the ability to provide for oneself in the future as well as the capability to provide for children.

It is worth noting, however, that the higher the salary figure gets, the smaller the number of respondents because such a small percentage of people earn those significant salaries. Only 1% of people in the U.S. earn more than $750,000 per annum.

The study went on to say that his figures point to the fact that increasing the salary of low-income earners has much more of a significant impact than increasing the salaries of the country’s top earners. He also said that policymakers could use this information to help them drive policies in the future.