How much money do people need to be happy?
Is this net income (after taxes, and possibly after 401k [or equivalent] savings)?<p>I would say that having no debt, or at least having manageable debt, along with knowing you are saving enough for retirement, and making enough that you don't have to second-guess if you can afford every purchase you make, is the real cutoff.<p>For example, if you don't have mortgage debt then you are probably renting.  So I consider mortgage "manageable" debt, along with any short-term debt that you can pay off within a year.<p>The other thing to consider, is life is full of stress-inducing "things" (situations, people, material objects, etc).  Often times throwing money at the stress makes the stress lower or go away.  So if you make enough where you can throw money at most of your stress and not break the bank, then that would greatly impact your happiness.