Are you happier the more money you earn? A famous study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman - Nobel Prize winner in economics in 2002 - and economist Angus Deaton published in 2010 noted that happiness increased in tandem with income until a plateau was reached between US$60,000 and US$90,000 per year, after which the effects were diluted.

These results were contradicted in a new study (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2208661120) conducted by Kahneman himself and PhD student and software expert Matthew Killingsworth, who, after collecting data from more than 33,000 Americans through an app developed by Killingsworth, found that this plateau no longer existed, except for the 20% of respondents who declared themselves less happy, who find the limit when they reach US$100,000 in annual income.

For the rest of the participants in the study, more money means more happiness, and even for the happiest 30%, the happiness index accelerates after passing the $100,000 per year income barrier.. The relationship between greater happiness and higher income is maintained up to US$500,000 per year, after which there is no conclusive data. However, the authors stress that the emotional effect of earning more money is small compared to other circumstances, including something as simple as having two days off at the end of the week.