this is the NYT article. its a great read. (i have no relationship with the journalist or the publication) nyti.ms/2NimgU5 music - smarturl.it/ven... first we feast (BURGER SHOW!) - / firstwefeast
Studies have shown that the jump from poor to middle class (or at least a point where you don't have to worry about bills) is one of the best ways to boost your happiness
KLJF calm down professor downer, from now on whenever I am happy I’ll think of this RU-vid comment and remember how stupid I am, and therefore will die a miserable and lonely death
My life motto nowadays is what Jim Carrey said in his documentary: "When you compromise and you fail, it really hurts. It hurts even more than failing at what you love. I learned that you can fail at what you don't love, so you might as well do what you love...there's really no choice to be made."
When you do X and Y occurs, Z occurs. Z is magnified when Y occurs to A. I learned Y occurs with B, so now I just do A. Gibberish simplified for you. Welcome 🤗
This brings back so many memories. I spent 2 years in community college studying accounting. It was a job that I could do (because I was good at math) and the money was great. But going to those classes and seeing how the next 40-50 years of my life would pan out just really sucked to me. Then one day when I was driving home from class I saw a house that was on fire and firefighters running into the building without hesitation and putting that fire out just sparked something inside of me. About 3 days later I volunteered at my communities fire department and started taking fire studies classes and went on calls to fires, care wrecks and even just making sure the elders of the community were okay due to the fact no one had heard from them for a couple of days. I then knew what I wanted to do with my life. After about a month volunteering I dropped out of college and my accounting classes and kept pursuing a career in firefighting. Eventually I became a certified EMT Firefighter and got a job with my cities fire department. I make good money, enough to pay my bills, buy my food, afford gas for my vehicle, buy clothes, etc. Plus at the end of the week I still will have around $100 to go on a real date with my girlfriend, you know, dinner plus a movie. That kind of thing. Yes, I work a dangerous job that could possibly cause my death at any moment. But at the same time I couldn't see myself doing anything else. I get paid enough money to live a good life and still have a fun weekend with my lady and my friends, all while saving lives and protecting people. What more could you ask for?
Most people could live on a $100K salary fairly comfortably. Median US household income in 2017 was just $61K. The "miserable" guy making $1.2M could easily work for just a few years and save enough money to quit/retire (if he lived as though he was making $100K). Then go find a job you love.
My family could live comfortably making $50,000.. we currently make barely $20,000...unless you have a degree or are born rich it’s hard to move up in the world. I don’t need a yacht and a Bugatti to be happy I need a reliable car to get my son around safely, I need a house that isn’t falling apart, and we need entertainment (WiFi, movies, family trips) that’s all I really need in life
Problem is that you and for family get acclimated to that $1.2M salary.. if you quit there are no more vacations, no more savings for your children, no sending your kids to an elite private school, no more vacation house, so on. Sure, those sound like incredible luxuries everyone can live without but after a while making a salary like that you become numb to the divinities that said salary affords.
Casey, I shared this video because it explains the situation of many people. When they wish for money, people tell them “money won’t buy happiness”. But it solves a lot of problem. Thanks for this video
100% agree. I feel like “money won’t solve your problems” only works if your financially stable. Going from stable to rich might not solve life problems (emphasis on might) but going from broke to rich, or even broke to stable will solve a lot of problems.
I don't know dude.. Sipping champagne from the belly button of Ashley while snorting cocaine from the butthole of Kimberly, all together laying on the sundeck of my yacht parked outside the southern coast of France, waiting for our lobsters to be cooked by Chef Luciano and served by butler Winston.. I can't see any sadness there..
I had to come back to this video as I'm a dirt poor man, but I always remember to treat others with an extreme kindness and positivity. That sometimes help me correct my negative feelings towards happier way. Happiness does not feed you but it's gotta be one of the most important key.
@@RamMohammadJosephKaur It means money magnifies your character it doesn't change you. So if you're self-centered "woe is me" then you'll be the same lonely person in your mansion, etc.
My best mate recently lost his job and fell hard into depression, something he never had before. I'm not disagreeing with you. But, your statement was a bit of a broad sweep of a brush. Many people are depressed because of the pressures of being poor. Having a bit of money, makes one hell of a lot of troubles go away. But, I accept there are a few for which no amount of money will make things better.
I cancelled paying clients so that I can work on cars 1.5 days a week. Totally happy so far because A) I enjoy it. B). I don't have to earn money, then pay taxes, and then pay someone to do the work I want to do in the first place. Win-win!
l lived a good life in Cali, but now I'm watching this video from a small hut in the philippines.. my phone, wifi, and electric fan is plugged in an inverter plugged to a car battery and I'm happy as hell! 1st world problems always crack me up. Happiness is a choice.. regardless of your situation.. peace
Been waiting for your 1,000th video! You’re a true inspiration. Even tho we make very different videos and my channel’s niche is credit card points and miles. You inspired me to start RU-vid and it’s been great so far! Thank you 🙏🏽🙌🏽
I totally agree with this video. "Money makes your journey of success a lot more enjoyable" and then if you are in the right frame of mind, you can focus on working on all those other issues that really can't be solved by money.
To me, the absolute perfect way for me to live would be to make a lot of money really early in my life so I was always guaranteed a level of comfort and security. Not luxury, but comfort, and then work to make myself happy. I couldn’t care less if I ever lived in a mansion, but feeling free to pursue my passions because I knew there wasn’t going to be a risk to me or my family? That’s goddam priceless. So yeah, boo hoo. You feel bad making $1.2 million a year? Why don’t you try saving a million dollars a year, white knuckle it for a decade and then live the rest of your life happier than most people could literally ever afford to be.
Tom Morgan - you’d probably be even happier if you’ve been poor & then succeeded. That way you’ll appreciate what you’ve achieved in way that someone who falls into early success will never feel.
I think the problem with most people is, the more money they make the greater their expenses are. They buy a faster car, bigger house , better clothes, higher quality foods, more extravagant holidays. So in their minds after all their "needs" are met they have little to save, and yes I agree that entire idea is totally bonkers, but It still happens.
The problem is when you earn more you want more..... and more. Me and my wife bought a new, nice house. Nice suburb. We always said we will never want anything else, this is perfect. 10 years later we both earn good incomes and now we are building a bigger double story, with a pool home and buying nice cars. It’s just a never ending upgrade
Great video Casey! Money is a tool. It’s needed, it just can’t / shouldn’t be used to solve every problem. People who hold this expectation that it fixes everything will not be happy, those who have enough and know how to use it, will be better off.
But just because you have a job that pays well, doesn't make you happy..... My brother works at Nestle as an Engineering manager overlooking a lot of staff making 120k a year but he hates it. He said it's stressful, he is on the call all the time, he has to work long hours, gets home late, can't spend time with his family much, and he pretty much doesn't have a life outside of work. Who want's to live like this? I don't. I am a computer technician at an intermediate school who loves my job and I work 40 hours a week with every weekend off. My work/life balance is perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. Sure I only get 43k a year but I don't mind. I am not struggling either because my girl makes 70k a year as a CT/Xray Technician at a big hospital. My job is not stressful usually, I am the only IT guy in my school building and I don't have a boss looking down at me 24/7, I get paid holidays off, a lot of vacation days and sick days. It's just super chill and I love it. Because I only work 40 hours a week I have time to do whatever I want when I get off of work at 3:30pm every day. From 4pm to 12am on Monday-Friday it is just chill and I get to spend time with my girl, family, friends. Just can't beat it man. What good is money when you have no time to enjoy yourself? This is the motto I live by.
You have a very good job and it pays well to cover your expenses. You get enough time to do something else or in simple words enjoy life. However, if your salary didnt cover the expenses or rather the cost of living then you would feel the need for more money. This will affect your mental health which would also affect your social life. Money definitely gives you happiness indirectly
In the western society we are building a culture where it’s “greedy” or “evil” to admit you’re in pursuit of money. The TRUTH is money is a physical form of power. It cannot buy every solution, but it can increase the likelihood of happiness in every aspect of your life. Pursuing money is ethical. Go get the life you want.
But pursuing power is greedy, as well as pursuing money, and damages our society. Power should be obtained as a mean to do what you are good at, it should never be the aim. Money is needed to survive in our society, and should be obtained as a result of a positive contribution to society, and never be the aim as well.
@@antox00 Pursuing power/money does not equate to greed at all. You just made that assumption with no context. What if someone wanted to pursue the power to help their old poor community? Or to create wealth in a certain sector? Or maybe they want to create generational wealth. More money = more success, because money is currency and this world revolves around it. No one wants to live a life where they only have enough money for what they need. That's ridiculous, if people just lived their lives like that we would still be stuck in the stone ages.
I am 37 now I realize that I have to find for peace of mind. So I left the job now I am a aspiring Entrepreneur. But I have peace of mind now. That's really great. Do what you like to do don't do what others expect from you. Money also matters most.
The question is WHY do we have to buy anything. It's not us....Its the system that people live in the usa specifically. I have lived in many countries under different systems. Many of the people in countries with different systems dont have money pressures and life is soooo incredibly different in those places. I have been extremely poor many times. The life of an artist doesn't revolve around money so i don't identify my self worth with money. But those times left a huge scar in my psyche in other areas. Even though I had an over arching purpose in life. The point is...we should look at our society. There is no need for anyone to suffer. There is so much money out there....The social concepts is the problem. The selfishness, the greed. There is no need for any of that. I hope to adjust this post as i think of how to write it better but....I want to thank Casey for bringing up this very very important issue. You are using what you built to do good. I love that. Peace
My girlfriend and I are in our mid 20's. Over the past couple of years we have made it our mission to increase our monthly income as much as possible and to get out of all consumer debt. We both come from very working-class families: My dad was a plumber in London's east end, and she grew up in the west country pottering around doing God knows what. When we both started our careers in London we took home £34k between us, which if you live or have lived in London you know that's not gonna cut it. I'm now 27, she is 25 and we now have an annual take-home of £112k. We are both insanely happy. We purchased a house on our own, we can go on holiday to pretty much anywhere we want to go, we can afford to treat ourselves every so often and we're able to continue to save plenty of money to increase our wealth. Being poor fucking sucked and I would never want to go back to that again. So as someone that grew up poor, lived in one of the most expensive cities in the world poor and is now doing very OK. This Millionaire can shut the fuck up. If you're unable to improve your life outside of work with $1.2m, you're an unappreciative douche bag. The guy is probably a prick and has no hobbies or interests outside of his financial world. Grind out your job for a few years, save your money then you can go and do something you truly love and not give a shit about how much you're being paid.
I love your channel and your way of presenting things. You've inspired me to start re-uploading videos on RU-vid. Being broke is tough to get over. Whether you are born broke or if you become broke during your life. But if someone puts as much time and determination in what they can. As you have done in this channel. Then they will not remain broke. But it is always those who are broke because they live over ability and try to pretend to be richer than they are. And that's a game that is impossible to win. For then you sell the dinner to buy breakfast.
"I don't like the idea of fashioning your life around money, or lifestyle," Jim Jarmusch said in that 1984 interview. "It seems just too predictable. There are so many other ways of living."
Oh brotherrrrrrr 😥😥 that is just some ballshit. i bet you are rich or at least middle-class to even say that. I am not even gonna go further i am just gonna leave it like that.
I hate everyday I go into work. My new job just reminds me oh much better it was at my old job. Even on the worst days I still managed to push through and accomplish my work. Now i just ask God to help me everyday and take me by his hand so that I can make it through lunch. For anyone who is going through something like this, know you are not alone.
Agree. Money will solve most of your problems... especially the problems that you have when you have no money. People who say money won't make you happy have never had any money. The money itself won't make you happy, but it will allow you to create an environment and situation where you can be happy.
I like what he points out and what he says and how he says it thou I think that when you have money problems and life problems they blend together because when you can pay rent you find happiness same with clothing and food and etc.
I think people who have experienced both ends of the financial spectrum appreciate the value of money more and are more conservative, but also generous once they are wealthy.
The problem with those who work in most of the financial sector (as the NyTimes story indicated) is that they operate in "funny money" or reaping rewards for the already wealthy. Investment bankers add little if any value to society-- so a lot of these people are depressed and disillusioned. Happiness is more a result of adding value to the world.
Unfortunately taking care of your elderly parents pays nothing. Dad has passed and taking care of mom. It's stressful, i have no social life and now no savings. But i chose to be the one to give up my life.
I'm in such a weird place. My dad has been unemployed since January 2019. He usually was the main source of income for my family but since he's been laid off multiple times by different failing companies I was used to it. However one thing, I go to a private school and I'm a senior. My mom teaches Chinese kids English and I have two jobs, have school, do theatre and play basketball. Basically our schedules don't allow for any together time. My dad has been doing favors just to make a few extra bucks for rent, and such. We went from living in a nice suburb of Austin TX to an apartment which i'm fine with. I've moved about 17 times in my life so change doesn't phase me. It's just really weird having close friends who don't work and get money thrown at them from their parents or a new car when they're 16, or extravagant gifts. I pay for everything I have unless it's my bday or Christmas. For Chgristmas I got a pair of converses and i was happy! My sister complained about lack of gifts and it made my mom cry. I was so so angry at that. Basically I'm not poor, I'm bottom of the middle class surrounded by upper middle class friends and wherever I go to college is based off how much it will cost my family. Did get accepted to The University of Houston though, so hopefully we can afford that. Basically i'm in an awkward, hard place and I can't identify with either side. AMA
Working in healthcare for nearly twenty years was not fulfilling me. I'd rather work as a cashier and pursue the other things I love to do. Less stress and I feel like great things are going to happen for me if I just keep pushing forward.
My Mum always says “money does buy a better class or misery” -basically, it’s not just solely money that will make u happy-but it does buy u a better “class”-it’s always stayed with me
In my country, if you dont have father or someone who helps you then you have nothing. Who is father? Father is who brings money home!! Money is everything! If you dont have money: u dont have: food, clothes, education, school, ... I love to have sister. We lost our sister because we did not have money to take her to doctor(she had heart problem). Here we pay for every everything, for books, even the salaries of teachers at school, college, ... When you don’t have money they don’t count you as human in the society, you can see this in the society and social media. Money solves every every problem!
Respecting odd people like transexuals and shit and worrying about safety or environment is like no priority for poor people. They will not give a shit about your feelings and have no problem not recycling because, they ACTUALLY HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS. Rich people are stupid if they never been broke, because they wont understand. Everyone has to be broke at least a few time to be a usefull human.
@@Francisco-j1e You notice that middle class women who have never worked a day in their life and started breeding out of highschool and had everything bought for them by men from birth until death... They're truly the least useful and entitled people in the world. First to die in any sort of strife though, so bring on the civil war.
@@Francisco-j1e lmao are you really making poverty as an excuse to be transphobic? it literally costs *nothing* to respect people's pronouns, it isn't hard at all. I see absolutely no reason as to how being poor and being unable to respect trans people are related.
"when your dead broke" yes yes it will but i think what the millionare was getting on about is that for him having that sorta money didnt make him happy ive always believe that if you have a roof, food and money for other necesites and wants i think that makes you happy being able to have that free time that bugger making millions each year probaly works 12 hr days and doesnt see his family probaly doesnt even get to enjoy his money
@@hamishcounsell5579 millionaires can quit - if you have a good job with not so bad money, you cannot quit, then you can really find yourself being unhappy even if you actually do not have money issues
I think people tend to get standard of living and quality of life confused. Standard of living refers to how much material goods you can own, while quality of life related to personal factors that affect happiness. You could have a high standard of living, but a poor quality of life, which will make you miserable. I also like to the idea of diminishing returns to the happiness-money graph. As you earn more money, the amount of personal fulfillment you get from each dollar will decrease. For example, a poor person would be happy with having simply enough money to eat, while a middle class person would be happy to have enough money to buy a nice tv. A rich person might not feel happy unless they can get themselves a sportscar or a yacht. Over time, you will need more and more money to make a significant increase in your happiness. Yes, money will solve most of your problems, but ONLY if you are broke or in financial need. I will note that middle class and upper class people will tend to be happier than poorer people because they can focus on their personal life and have access to resources that improve their quality of living (plenty of entertainment, therapy, etc). However, my opinion is that, after a certain point, you can stop worrying about chasing money and instead focus on your quality of life.
Ice cream is happiness indeed. Imagine buying a whole ice cream cart and giving free ice cream away to eager children at a busy amusement park on a hot summer day.
I respect your hustle so much. I remember about 3 years ago you made a video about how you started getting into filming. And you said specifically don't ever max out your credit card for a camera. And stupidly I did the same thing. Well after years of hustling I've peaked over 134,000 subscribers. And videos like this put so much perspective into it. Thank you so much Casey. But seriously don't ever max out your credit card lol
Hustle???? You dont know the meaning of the word! Hustling is jerking of punks under a bridge for five bucks a go day in day out just so you can feed your family
Truer words have not been said, Casey. "If you are struggling financially, and someone tells you money won't solve all of your problems, chances are the that person saying that is someone who's never actually been broke."
Money may not buy happiness, but it can definitely get rid of the things that cause unhappiness. Edit: (I am aware that this doesnt apply to all situations. Which is why I said "can")
@@casomii7576 True it may not help you find love but if you're surrounded by disloyal or toxic people. Money can enable you to remove those people from your life (by distancing yourself)
I’ve had no money and now decent money and I can’t in good conscience recommend being broke... That said, I know it’s not simple. But the thing I would say is if you raise your skill level and then put yourself around people who can pay you what you’re worth, things tend to get better. Just be patient with yourself and hang in there...
I recommend that everyone experience what it's like to be broke once in their life. It's miserable but it taught me so much and put so much into perspective
Sadly training can be expensive. I'm trying to get my hands on cinema4D and other 3D software, but the software is already 800 €. I'm trying to re-enter film to have a fullfilling life again. I used to work in warehouses and was angry that nobody let me get into film again. So I'm trying to intern again with 29 and maybe I will get a job this way. Trained out of my own pocket in avid for 2000 $. And now potential employers are flocking my mailbox. 2 years ago, I only scored some interviews, but mostly silence.
This reminds my of the fantastic Japanese concept of "Ikigai" - or ultimate purpose/reason for being. It's a Venn diagram of overlapping circles of purposes. 1) "What you are good at"; 2) "What you love"; 3) "What the world needs"; and 4) "What you can get paid for". *Passion* is when "What you love" and "What you are good at" overlap. *Mission* is when "What you love" and "What the world needs" overlap. *Vocation* is when "What you are good at" and "What the world needs" overlap. *Profession* is when "What the world needs" and "What you are good at" overlap. *Ikigai* - ultimate purpose of the holy grail of happiness - is when all four circles overlap. I haven't found it yet, but I'm trying. Peace!
Karen Z when someone first showed me this concept of Ikigai, it totally blew my mind. It also came at a time in my life when I was struggling with the very concept. Still am, though… 😂
Viva Frei Well, as long as you have tried ( and still trying ). It can be a long process. But in the end, it’s actually the process that makes it fun and fulfilled. ( I actually wrote a blog post about it:)
You fucked up, Profession is "What the world needs" and "What you can get paid for" (I assume). Otherwise two of them are the same, and "What you can get paid for" isn't used at all. That said, I got the point and loved the concept.
Especially when you get to solve all of the problems at once. You find a job that you love and are passionate about and fulfils you and then you get to solve all of the money problems through the success of working at something you love. Then you become a source of happiness and wealth for others around you.
One of the things to consider is that even with his $1.2 million a year his net income might be say, for example, $712,000. From their take out the mortgage payment on that $2,000,000 home of $120,000 per year. So, now he's down to $592,000 left. Oh, but wait, the leases on those two new $100,000 cars? Those leases are about $100,000 annually. So, now he's left with $492,000.... Then feeding the two kids, vacations, entertainment expenses, credit card bills, club memberships, etc. Anyway the point is that depending on his lifestyle expenses he may not have a lot left over. So, most likely 5 years will not get him there. Most people will upgrade their lifestyle every time there income increases ( " I deserve it mentality"). Living within or below your means is one of the hardest things to learn and do! Too much debt will reduce your state of happiness and general peace of mind. But , yeah, if he could save a chunk of that $1.2 million he may be able to retire early. IF...
@@Movieman1965 In that case the answer is blindingly simple. Sell the pointless cars, and move to a comfortable yet normal family house rather than a mini-mansion. Accept the fact that normal people don't go on five extravagant foreign holidays a year. Stop buying frivolous crap that's only contributing to his sense of hollow living. Personally I live on 9k a year. Selling those cars alone would cover my expenses for nearly half my remaining life time. If he's smart enough to climb up there, he should be smart enough to identify a sensible comfortable place to climb back down to.
@@UnknownSquid you can also move to a cheaper country to live in. I comfortably live on 3500$ a year with rent, and if I could earn somehow 500 000 for example in the US I'd run like hell back to my country, spend 400 000$ for real estate, rent it out and boom I'm set for fucking life, I may open a small business like a gym just for fun to have something to occupy myself with, get any new video game that comes out, occasionally travel for whatever stuff, idk even do some charity work and stuff I'd have so much free time. And that's the plan as of now, just not sure how I'd be even able to go to the US in the first place but once I figure that out I'd do it first chance I get
@@Movieman1965 $712k is still a hell of a lot. In just that year alone he can buy a couple properties and get a livable income on rent alone, having to do literally nothing, no job at all just collecting the paychecks. I'd say just work one or two years, buy the properties, and live on the rent for the rest of your life.
Money doesn't buy happiness, it buys less stress. But never happiness. Poor people can be insanely happy human beings, but can be stressed due to lack of funds.
But Maslow's theory was not very correct because hierarchy of needs is not same for everybody and every situation. Every individual is different. That's why you can't use it in motivation. Money can't buy happiness is the eternal truth and you know it when you have it.
Dude! I was thinking about the same thing! Good thing I took a psychology class this semester! It gave me a whole new perspective on humans in general. Anyone out there, should have atleast one psychology class in their life. It helps.
I think at the end of the day it all comes back to sell awareness, there are people out there who truly feel happy when they are crushing it in business, and others feel happy when they are with their family, and only making a little bit of money each month to support them. I think the only time when you are living "Wrong" is when you are disingenuous to yourself, and not living up to what your version of success is.
This is probably the most important comment in this comments section. Yeah, money matters, but self awareness is the key. Success means different things to everyone, it might mean having 1 million dollars to person a but to person b it might mean having happiness with their family and raising healthy children. I think nowadays for many people it can be harder to find happiness and meaning, with all the social media attention whores riding around in their lambos. Figure out what exactly you want, and work towards that.
I lived 2 years as a homeless person many years ago. It was a weird rebellious time in my life. Fast forward over a decade later and I’m married with a new baby, a good job and a growing RU-vid channel. Time is a weird thing. Life itself is a weird thing. Never think you’re stuck in a rut forever. Things change fast. I believe in all of you
John Savage I assume you meant “years” and not “subs” but it truly was when you had no job or money and you’re sleeping under a bench in the winter. When all you want is to go home to your parents at 17 but they want nothing to do with you. When you’re so hungry you eat out of the trash. Ya... 2 years was a long time
