Scraping By On 500K/Year

Even though it's more than the president himself gets paid (though he has lots of perks like Air Force One), this article in the New York Times shows how tough it can be to live on such a meager pittance. I think it probably qualifies as "cruel and unusual punishment".

Money Can Buy Happiness (sort of)

"10 Secrets That Millionaires Keep"

"Concomitantly, rates of depression are lower among the wealthy, according to the Wharton study, and the rich tend to have better health than the rest of the population, says James Smith, senior labor economist at the Rand Corporation. In fact, health and happiness are as closely correlated as wealth and happiness, Smith says."

"The wealthy even seem to smile and laugh more often, according to the Wharton study, to say nothing of getting treated with more respect and eating better food."

Oh there's a big surprise! That's an incredible - I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die of not surprise! - Iago (from Aladdin)

From the Washington Post article, "How Rich People Spend Their Time" -

"People who make less than $20,000 a year, for example, told [Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist] Kahneman and his colleagues that they spend more than a third of their time in passive leisure -- watching television, for example. Those making more than $100,000 spent less than one-fifth of their time in this way -- putting their legs up and relaxing. Rich people spent much more time commuting and engaging in activities that were required as opposed to optional. The richest people spent nearly twice as much time as the poorest people in leisure activities that were active, structured and often stressful -- shopping, child care and exercise."

I wouldn't say that I "hate" people who watch a lot of TV, but it sort of disgusts me. Maybe that's putting it a little strongly. Hate the sin, love the sinner. Some smart dude said that once. I feel sorry for them, really. George Carlin, the late comedian, said this in an Esquire article once - "I wish that we could measure how much the potential of the mind to expand has been stunted by television." So do I, George. So. Do. I.

Whealth

"If you have not consciously made the decision to be rich, excellent, and healthy, then you have unconsciously made the decision to be poor, mediocre, and unhealthy."

-Wallace D. Wattles, self-help author

One of the things I like about HSAs and high deductible health plans is that they make consumers more conscious of health care issues and spending.

Wealth = Health

How perfect is this?

	"To get rich, never risk your health. For it is the truth that health is the wealth of wealth."
	— Richard Baker: American congressman.

"Health is the wealth of wealth." I really like that.

SWB

Contrary to popular belief, that doesn't stand for "single white bunny". SWB stands for "subjective well-being".

From the University of Leicester's School of Psychology:

"This underlying state is conceptualised as a sense of satisfaction with one’s life, both in general and in specific areas of one’s life such as relationships, health and work."

I read an article about the study in The Futurist magazine and was able to track down the paper and complete ranking of countries' scores on the Satisfaction With Life Scale here. Denmark and Switzerland tie for 1st place with a 273, followed by Austria, Iceland, Bahamas, Finland, and Sweden. USA is a little bit down the list with a score of 247, but comfortably ahead of the miserable French, at 220. It will come as no great shock that the bottom of the list is comprised of African and former Soviet Bloc countries, where health problems and poverty abound.