It seems natural that happiness comes from having more money. Even if they don't admit it, people still act as if it's true. More money means you can have what you want and do what you want. The house you dream of? It's yours. The new car you want? Here are the keys. The freedom to enjoy your favorite pastimes? Here's your racket, the court is over there, just beyond the pool. So the puzzle is this: Why do social scientists consistently find only moderate relationships between having more money and being happy? Some have even suggested that this moderate connection may be exaggerated. In reality, money may have very little to do with happiness. Most disconcerting, though, is that people often seem aware, on some level, that money won't make them happy. Yet they continue to work earning money they don't objectively need. First, though, let's look at the three reasons why money doesn't make us happy: It's relative income that's important. As I noted earlier, money is relative. It turns out that we don't care much about our current income level, as long as we earn more than other people around us. Unfortunately, as we earn more money, we are likely to be surrounded by wealthier people, so we often end up failing to take advantage of positive comparison. Material goods do not make us happy. Acquiring things like houses and cars has only a transitory effect on happiness. People's desire to own material goods is growing at the same rate, or even faster, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious goods, people don't end up happier. There is also evidence that materialism makes us less happy. People don't engage in pleasurable activities when they're halfway…half of paper…satisfied with life. Through the illusion of focus we convince ourselves that satisfaction equals happiness. Unfortunately this is not the case. Even though it seems like we have everything, we feel like we're missing something, but we can't identify what it is. That thing is simply that: feeling happy. Right now. In the moment.What will make you feel happy right now?ReferencesKahneman, D., Krueger, A.B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A.A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion. Science, 312, 1908-1910.Schnall, P., Landsbergis, P., Belkic, K., Warren, K., Schwartz, J., & Pickering, T. (1998). Results from the Cornell University ambulatory blood pressure study: a review. Psychosomatic Medicine, 60, 697. Schwartz, B. (2007). There must be an alternative. Psychological investigation, 18, 48-51.