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Welcome to the latest edition of the Healy Wealth Management newsletter, your monthly guide to navigating the financial complexities of life.
Let us know your thoughts. And if there’s something that could benefit a friend or family member, please send it their way.
Click below to watch John Healy, Chief Investment Officer discuss how:
Watch the video to see how we help clients make informed, confident decisions about this important life transition.
A. If two mind readers are reading each other’s minds, whose mind are they reading?
B. Which was named “orange” first, the color or the fruit?
Does money make us happier? Research says yes—but not always in the ways you’d expect.
For years, a 2010 study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton shaped popular thinking by claiming that happiness increases with income only up to about $75,000 per year. Beyond that, the researchers said, more money didn’t improve day-to-day emotional well-being—just overall life satisfaction. This gave rise to a famous soundbite: “Money doesn’t buy happiness past $75,000.”
But in 2021, researcher Matthew Killingsworth challenged that idea. Using real-time mood-tracking data, he found that happiness continues to rise steadily with income—even well beyond six figures. In 2023, Killingsworth and Kahneman teamed up to reconcile their findings. Their conclusion: for the majority of people, more money does correlate with more happiness, including both daily emotional well-being and overall life satisfaction. The original $75,000 “ceiling,” it turns out, was wrong.
In fact, the 2023 study found that only about 20% of people—those experiencing deep emotional distress—do not feel happier with more income. For everyone else, the emotional benefits of higher income continue to grow, though at a diminishing rate.
So why do many missionaries, aid workers, and travelers report seeing more joy, generosity, and community spirit in materially poor communities than in wealthy ones? Isn’t that evidence that money doesn’t matter?
Actually, this lived experience highlights a crucial truth that the data supports: money helps, but it’s not the whole story. The World Happiness Report, which ranks countries by self-reported well-being, consistently shows that while wealthier countries tend to rank higher, strong social ties, trust, generosity, and freedom matter just as much—if not more. Some lower-income countries (like Costa Rica and several in Latin America) often score surprisingly high, largely due to tight-knit families, faith, and community resilience.
So yes, richer people tend to report higher happiness on average, but poor doesn’t always mean miserable, and rich doesn’t always mean content. That’s because money can buy comfort, options, and security—but not purpose, connection, or peace.
At Healy Wealth Management, we help clients use money with intention. That means aligning your wealth with what matters most—whether that’s freedom to slow down, give generously, retire confidently, or simply live with less stress. Because in the end, the goal isn’t just wealth—it’s well-being.
Where did money come from? If you studied economics in school, you probably heard that it evolved naturally to make trade easier—replacing barter with more practical forms of exchange. Imagine trying to trade a dozen eggs for a haircut, or a side of beef for a new pair of shoes. Money, the story goes, naturally evolved to make those kinds of trades simpler.
But modern historians and anthropologists tell a very different story.
In ancient Mesopotamia, money didn’t begin as coins or currency—it began as grain and silver, with weights carefully recorded in temple and palace ledgers. People didn’t use it to shop; they used it to settle debts, pay taxes, and meet obligations owed to the central authority. It wasn’t about convenience—it was about control. When coins appeared much later, they were usually minted by kings to pay soldiers and fund empires, not to facilitate free trade in markets.
The long evolution of money reflects this deeper theme. In the 1500s, a silver mine in a Bohemian town called Joachimsthal began producing large, uniform coins stamped with the name of the region. These “Joachimsthalers”—eventually shortened to “thalers” and then “dollars” —became widely used across Europe and the Americas. Even the U.S. dollar traces its name and monetary DNA to this era of coinage designed to consolidate state power and simplify long-distance commerce—not empower individuals.
This history isn’t just academic—it reshapes how we understand money today.
Money still functions as a tool of power. If your household earns $250,000, you might feel relatively successful. But when you look more closely, nearly half of that income is effectively absorbed by “taxes”.
Start with direct taxes: federal and state income tax, sales tax, property tax, and various local taxes. Altogether, these can easily consume over 30% of the $250,000.
While payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare) are labeled as future benefits, for high earners they are mainly a tax. Both programs are capped and progressive: you pay a fixed percentage of your income up to a limit, but the benefits favor lower-income workers. If you and your spouse each contribute the maximum for 30 years, you’ll pay over $1.25 million into the Social Security system. Yet your eventual benefit might amount to only $3,700/month per person—a return of just 1–2% per year, far below what those dollars could have earned in other investments. Including Medicare, we estimate the true cost of payroll taxes for a $250,000 household will turn out to be around 10%.
Then there’s the stealth tax of inflation – which is understated by the reported CPI figures. High earners spend more on higher inflationary components of the index (e.g., healthcare and education). These aren’t luxuries—they’re essentials. Over the past decade, including the abnormally high inflationary years of 2021 and 2022 (9% peak), CPI grew by 3% per year, on average. For high earners, it was at least 5%.
So, if it feels like you’re working hard but not getting ahead—you’re not imagining it. A significant portion of your income goes to taxes and rising costs. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck.
The good news is – once you understand how the system works, you can start using it to your advantage. Money isn’t just something to earn and hand over—it’s a tool you can use to build security, create opportunities, and support what matters most to you.
At Healy Wealth Management, we help clients keep more of what they earn, grow their wealth intentionally, and use their money in ways that reflect their values and goals. You have more control than you think—and we’re here to help you make the most of it.
Call us today to talk about how you can use today’s challenges as the foundation for tomorrow – building a life with more clarity and confidence. Money may have started as a system of control. But it can become a powerful force for your freedom and impact within your family and community.
“Money doesn’t make you happy.
I have $50 million now and I am just as happy as when I had $48 million”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger
Answer:
A. Neither. (We don’t believe in mind readers). 😉
B. The fruit. (It’s a fact, not a riddle – from Sanskrit nāraṅga).