The Little Book of Main Street Money: 21 Simple Truths that Help Real People Make Real Money

Chapter 3. Money Can Buy Happiness—If We Spend It Carefully

Getting in Touch with Our Inner Caveman

We want the big house and the fancy car. We hanker -after the fat pay raise and the next promotion. And, because we aren't entirely consistent, we also hunger for a life of endless leisure.

Sound familiar? There's just one problem. While all of these things may briefly make us happy, none will buy us lasting happiness. Cast your mind back to the last chapter, about the need to make financial tradeoffs. If you have a sense you aren't making the right choices, there is a reason: We just aren't very good at figuring out what we want.

Much of this, I believe, has evolutionary roots. Unfortunately, we can't go back and interview our hunter-gatherer ancestors. But we can take a pretty good shot at imagining what their lives were like. These folks weren't focused on saving diligently so they could retire in 30 years. They were focused on surviving until tomorrow. That was no easy task. They strove relentlessly to feed and shelter themselves, they consumed whenever they could, and they weren't the type to lounge around their caves and muse, "I'm one lucky dude. In fact, I'm totally content with what I have and there's really nothing more I could possibly want."

We aren't so different.

Making Progress

In recent decades, the U.S. standard of living has vastly improved. Yet people, on average, report being no more satisfied with their lives than they did in earlier decades. Money, it appears, hasn't ...