more money, more problems

sure, it’s just another economic study, but my own observations tend to corroborate the findings in this article that wealthier people are more stressed:

Being rich used to get you into the leisure class. Money meant freedom — from work, money worries, household chores and screaming kids (via boarding school).

Now, however, the wealthy seem to be as besieged as ever. The leisure class has given way to what I call the workaholic wealthy — an elite of BlackBerry-crazed, network-obsessed, peripatetic travelers who have to keep scrambling to maintain their place in life.

According to research by Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist, quoted in an article in the Washington Post, “being wealthy is often a powerful predictor that people spend less time doing pleasurable things and more time doing compulsory things and feeling stressed.”

People who make less than $20,000 a year, for instance, spent more than a third of their time in passive leisure, like kicking back and watching TV. By contrast, those making more than $100,000 a year (I would call them affluent, not wealthy), spent less than a fifth of their time in passive leisure. “The richest people spent nearly twice as much time as the poorest people in leisure activities that were structured and often stressful — shopping, child care and exercise.”


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3 responses to “more money, more problems”

  1. citx Avatar
    citx

    i SECOND this emotion.

    and i would further assert that BILLIONAIRE
    is the new ‘low tide line’ of what i would term WEALTHY.

    $500M+ means you ARE a player..but at that level
    you are MORE trapped by your assets than LIBERATED by them..

    speaking from personal experience..

    PROBLEMS BEGIN AT SEVEN FIGURE INCOME.

    “when the pie comes out..so do the KNIVES”

    and if you are languishing BELOW that half-billion mark..your fortune is simply
    a ‘targeted asset pool’..that will be portioned out to your BETTERS unless you PLAY BY THEIR RULES.

    game on kids.

  2. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    While I’m not as cynical as the previous poster, I agree the mark has gotten larger. I further agree that at nearly any asset level, you’re a target.

    The tough part is for guys who have had one wealth creation event of some modicum, but haven’t been able to translate that into continued or sustainable success. Case in point anyone who’s made 20-50, what then? You’re not in any economic environmnt that allows freedom, rather burdened as mentioned in the article.

  3. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    Sorry, cut short. Meant to add, and with 20-50, you’re not going to be able to sustain a lifestyle you’d like.

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