All those who say money can't buy happiness may have to bite their tongues, as a new study by American scientists suggests that £50,000 can buy you all the joy you need.
The study asked 1000 volunteers whether they had felt joyful, sad, stressed or angry the previous day and whether they'd smiled or laughed a lot.
The results showed that the lowest earners found life the biggest struggle, and the struggle eased with increasing salaries. Those earning between $75,000 dollars to £50,000 seemed the happiest lot.
Surprisingly though, those earning £100,000 and £150,000 are no more happy than those earning £50,000.
"Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve a person's ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being - such as spending time with the people they like, avoiding pain and disease and enjoying leisure," The Daily Mail quoted the Princeton University researchers as saying.
The study also revealed that envy at being lower in the social pecking order tarnishes the satisfaction of being well off.
Dr Chris Boyce, of the University of Warwick, said, "Earning £1million a year appears not to be enough to make you happy if you know your friends all earn £2million a year."
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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