9.30.2026 – money cannot buy

money cannot buy
happiness – having enough
is still essential

Adapted from the article, These are the happiest states in America. See where your state ranks by Anthony Thompson in USAToday where Mr. Thompson writes (quoting WalletHub’s annual Happiest States in America report):

“It’s also important to note that while the adage that money can’t buy happiness has a lot of truth to it, having enough money to live comfortably is still essential. But anything beyond that won’t necessarily enhance happiness as much as having fulfilling hobbies, relationships and opportunities for personal growth.”

That line, It’s also important to note that while the adage that money can’t buy happiness has a lot of truth to it, having enough money to live comfortably is still essential got me to wondering about something so I opened up Gemini, Google’s AI Bot and asked:

In America today, how much money is needed so that you have enough money to live comfortably?

I got a very well reasoned report, nicely documented (click here for the complete Gemini Response) that in short said:

Living “comfortably” in the United States depends heavily on household size, geographic location, and
lifestyle expectations. Financial studies utilizing the standard 50/30/20 budget framework (allocating
50% of income to necessities like housing and groceries, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to
savings and debt repayment) establish key baseline income thresholds for comfortable living across the
nation.

Gemini then broke out some numbers.

Income Needed by Household Size – Household Type

Average National Threshold
Single Adult: $85,000 – $100,000
Family of Four (2 adults, 2 kids): $210,000 – $240,000

Low-Cost States (e.g., WV, MS)
Single Adult: ~$81,000 – $86,000
Family of Four (2 adults, 2 kids): ~$187,000 – $195,000

High-Cost States (e.g., HI, MA, CA)
Single Adult: $124,000 – $129,000
Family of Four (2 adults, 2 kids): $300,000 – $330,000

I then asked, “How many American’s meet this level of Income right now?

The summary response I got was:

Summary Takeaway
For Single Adults: Only about 1 in 7 single Americans earns enough to meet the formal 50/30/20 definition of a “comfortable” lifestyle on a single income.

For Families of Four: About 1 in 5 families earns the combined $210,000+ necessary to cover necessities, non-essentials, and consistent 20% savings without financial strain.

That got me to thinking so I asked one more question.

I asked “How many American’s met this level of income in 2015?”

I got this response …

Single Adults (2015): Roughly 1 out of 6 to 1 out of 7 single-person households earned above the ~$60,000–$71,000 mark in 2015 dollars (~14% to 16%).

Families of Four (2015): Roughly 1 out of 4 to 1 out of 5 married families with two kids earned above the ~$150,000 mark in 2015 dollars (~19% to 23%).

Not much different but what got me was this statement:

Adjusting for inflation using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI), cumulative inflation between 2015 and today is approximately 41%.

This means that $1.00 in 2015 had roughly the same purchasing power as $1.41 today. Deflating the current thresholds back to 2015 values yields the equivalent income needed to live “comfortably” in 2015.

So many many many numbers.

I am reminded of that old saying:

A recession is when someone is out of money.

A depression is when I am out of money.

Thinking of that line of having enough money to enhance happiness as much as having fulfilling hobbies, relationships and opportunities for personal growth as thinking about enough money to put food on the table and that remined of that line out of the depression when FDR put a man named Harry Hopkins in charge of relief efforts and according to legend, Hopkins found an office on Inauguration day and began funding programs to start emergency food distribution.

Someone in Washington told Hopkins that giving government money away like that wouldn’t work in the long run.

“People don’t eat in the long run,” said Hopkins, “they eat every day.”