There’s no doubt that making more money can change the way you think and feel.
Research into this field has only increased in the years since the 2008 recession while high rates of income inequality and limited socioeconomic mobility have become more apparent than ever.
Psychologists found having more money can drastically affect the way we see and experience the world.
Why is that?
Well, wealth gives you more autonomy and freedom. And with that can come other changes, too.
The wealthier someone is, the less empathetic they are to others. By contrast, those who make much less money tend to be much more empathetic, generous and compassionate.
Wealth can cloud your moral judgment, according to one UC Berkely study.
But guess what? So can merely thinking about money, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard and the University of Utah.
We haven’t even gotten to the way other people treat you when they know you have more money!
We were reminded of all the ways money can both simplify and complicate life after Redditor SheelahSchimek1980 asked the online community,
“What are some things you realized as you got wealthier?”
“There’s a lot less stress…”
“Money doesn’t buy happiness so much as it buys security. There’s a lot less stress about really critical issues with money, which has the unfortunate effect of freeing up your brain to be worried about more trivial things.”
“But not having to worry about certain expenses or fret over whether a minor indulgence will set you back is simply relaxing.” ~ AmigoDelDiabla
“You’ll always want one of those things…”
“Time is money.”
“You’ll always want one of those things more than the other. I’m not wealthy, but my income is enough to cover my expenses and still save a little bit, and I now realize that time is worth far, far more than money.”
“It’s why I always use my PTO time for vacation instead of cashing it out for extra money like all the dupes I work with.” ~ Polumbo
“Also, the cushion of safety…”
“Fortune and luck are not ignorable… they matter more than a lot of people are willing to admit, perhaps for ego reasons, or perhaps they’ve simply fooled themselves.”
“Also, the cushion of safety and ability to have most of what you need provides a lot of dignity that can’t be ignored either.” ~ ZookeepergameNo4680
“The difference in quality…”
“The difference in quality between cheap crap and middle range is often far larger than the difference between middle range and very expensive, even though the price gap is about the same or more.” ~ Arctelis
“Buying things in bulk is cheaper…”
“I realized how being poor makes you poor. Everything costs more when you’re poor.”
“Paying six or 12 months at a time on car insurance is way cheaper than month to month. So, when I was poor I spent more on that because I couldn’t save or plan ahead.”
“Buying things in bulk is cheaper, aka Sam’s Club. But when you’re poor, you’re not buying a toothpaste multipack. Too much upfront.”
“When you’re poor, you’ll buy a $50 pair of boots every year. When you have a financial cushion, you’ll buy a $300 pair of boots that last ten years.” ~ foodzillavsgothra
“The Dollar Store chains…”
“The Dollar Store chains are literally the biggest ripoffs you’ve ever seen. When you do unit pricing for things like toilet paper, diapers, etc. it’s amazing they’re allowed to market anything as saving.” ~ PetiePal
“I started hiding my wealth from people.”
“Wealth changes relationships and not in a good way. I lost friends because they found out I had wealth and felt that they were entitled to it and I was a bad person because I wouldn’t pick up the check for everyone at a restaurant.”
“They never expected this before but now they did. I started hiding my wealth from people. I drive beaters. I live in a small house. I became more conscious of people who just hate wealthy people.”
“Found out that I have several friends who believe they are poor because other people are rich and they blame rich people in general for all their problems not knowing that they’re literally talking to someone they hate and loathe.”
“The thing I really found more than anything though is that money doesn’t really make you happy. I’m just as lonely and isolated as I was when I was broke and money doesn’t help with that.” ~ agreeingstorm9
“I realized that time…”
“I realized that time is my most valuable asset. That’s why wealthy people pay someone else to do things like cleaning their house, mowing the yard, etc.”
“That’s low-value work. Wealthy people use that time to make more money.” ~ [deleted]
“As someone who’s moved over time…”
“As someone who’s moved over time from sleeping in my car and ‘staying late’ at the office just to have a place to rest my head to someone with a mortgage and a family, I’d say that it takes such a short time for improving circumstances (housing, decor, employment, financial freedom) to become ‘the new normal.’” ~ Following_the_Sun
“My effective tax rate…”
“How unfair the tax system is. My effective tax rate went down as I made more money. My lowest effective tax rate was 17% in my highest earning year (I was in the top 1% of earners). Tax regulation around real estate is absurd in particular.” ~ greeperfi
“We keep financial information very private…”
“I realized that you can’t talk about raises, promotions, or bonuses with certain people.”
“Those certain people will either not be happy for you at all or will expect to be able to borrow money from you. Or both.”
“We keep financial information very private for this reason. There are still people who are mad at us for not being their personal ATM. It sucks but you learn quickly how people see you.” ~ SnooSketches63
Is the grass always greener? Perhaps.
The fact of the matter is, don’t expect money to suddenly fix all your problems. It sometimes creates some entirely different ones.
But wouldn’t it be great if you or I could just find that out for ourselves?
Who do I have to give my bank account information to?
I’ll be here, just waiting patiently.