How Much Money You Need to Live a Fulfilled Life?

How much money you need to live a fulfilled life? This is a loaded question. What do you think? So answering the question you may say it depends on how we define fulfilled life. Fulfillment in life is about realizing one’s fullest potential. There are essentially 10 drivers to find fulfillment in life. Can we find fulfillment in life if we are poor? Likely not if we don’t meet our physiological needs. Again, we don’t need to be rich either to find fulfillment in life. Sounds interesting? So in this post I will share how much money you need to live a fulfilled life.

“Life is about making an impact, not making an income.”

– Kevin Kruse

Why Do We Need Money in Life?

Why do we need money in life?

We need money essentially for a livelihood. This is primarily to meet our physiological needs.

We also need money for our education. In many countries education is fully state funded. But in many others, higher education is expensive.

Another area for which we need money is healthcare. Healthcare can be expensive, especially in countries like America.

We also need money to live in a country that provides a certain quality of life. This expense goes as paying taxes and higher cost of living.

In addition, we need some money for leisure. Leisure is also as important. It is like recharging the batteries.

Finally, we need to save money for the rainy day and retirement.

How to Live a Fulfilled Life?

Fulfillment in life is about realizing one’s fullest potential. Its foundation is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which I explained in “Start Here- Learn to Live a Fulfilled Life“. To illustrate further, there are 10 drivers to find fulfillment in life.

To live a fulfilled life, we need to realize our fullest potential. And to achieve that, we don’t need infinite money. So how do we realize our fullest potential?

It starts with trying to discover our purpose in life. So how can we find the true purpose of our life? First, it goes back to trying to discover our strengths. Second, discover our passion or calling. Third, determine how to use our strength and passion to make a difference. That is how can we try to help the world become a better place to live for all. This depends on our education. Then our aptitude. And our skills. Most important is our determination to make a difference. Remember, “I exist because WE exist“.

How Much Money You Need to Live a Fulfilled Life?

Coming back to our question how much money you need to live a fulfilled? As we reckon to live a fulfilled life, we need to realize our fullest potential. And to achieve that, we don’t need infinite money. Psychologists found the exact amount of money you need to be happy.

According to an article by Quentin Fottrell from MarketWatch on March 4, 2018, psychologists analyzed 1.7 million people in 164 countries for earnings with life satisfaction. This accommodated differences in cost of living across countries. They found the ideal income for individuals is $95,000 a year for life satisfaction and $60,000 to $75,000 a year for emotional well-being. It also noted that families with children will need more.

Another article by Belinda Luscombe from Time on September 6, 2010, stated the magic number to be $75,000 per year. Economist Angus Deaton and psychologist Daniel Kahneman analyzed the responses of 450,000 Americans polled by Gallup and Healthways in 2008 and 2009 for this study.

So happiness is not directly proportional to income infinitely. After about $75,000 income per year, happiness doesn’t increase anymore. This is pretty much in contrary to what our consumerism world makes us believe. You need a bigger house. You need a nicer car! Sounds familiar?

These numbers are more of a guidance versus something set on stone. It depends on the individual spending preferences as well. If you choose to live a minimalistic life, it would be significantly lower.

Conclusion

To conclude, the fulfillment in life you achieve is NOT directly proportional to the amount of money you make. There is a limit to the income beyond which one doesn’t achieve life satisfaction or happiness. So would you mindlessly trade hours for money? Or would you try to pursue excellence, leveraging your skills and passion? Excellence, that creates value for all? And makes it a better world for all today and tomorrow? Let me know your thoughts.