Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As they say.. money does not buy happiness necessarily, but it does buy you comfort.
Good relationships and social support system makes for "happy". Money can't always buy that, though, because you never know if your friends are there because of your money or because of you.
Also, as PPs noted, find what makes you happy. Hobby? Travel? Volunteering? Focus on that, too.
We are not DCUM wealthy, HHI is only $300K. I don't have a strong social circle here (moved here some years ago and always wfh). But, I find that I am most happy when traveling with just me and DH. I love my kids, but traveling with them is not the same.
My kids will be off to college soon, and DH and I will be able to retire early-ish. We are going to travel a lot more, and I cannot wait. I dream of it. I think about where I want to go constantly, reading up on interesting places, logistics.
Last summer we spent 3 weeks traveling around a European country, and I *loved* it, even when we were on the road for 2 hours. I just loved seeing the countryside, and different places. I went into a funk when we got home. I did not want to come home.
So, my happiness would be traveling a lot and not working. Money could definitely buy me that.
My friends just retired to a lovely beachside town in Portugal. Cost of living is so much lower than here. They are traveling all over Europe from there and having a ball.
pp here.. my spouse is originally from the UK, and we are going to stay there with family, and use it as a base to travel around Europe.
A friend moved to Portugal a few years ago with her family. I'm definitely going to visit that friend. I've been to Portugal before but only around the Algarve region, and it was ages ago.
We are hoping to also travel around Asia for a few months.
That's the happy money can buy me. I can't wait. I'm most happiest when I'm traveling.