Investing in Happiness (EP.148)

The Rational Reminder Podcast

Today we dive deep into the connection between happiness and money, looking at a host of theories and studies that have examined the important factors in this discussion. The main material referenced is the fascinating, The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, and during the episode, we get to look at a great selection of the findings and claims in the book. To kick things off, we consider the broad ideas around how money can stimulate happiness, as well as its addictive aspects, before examining a few of the most prominent lenses used for measuring different kinds of happiness. Talking about the ideas of Hedonia and Eudaimonia, the influence of forecasting and the future, and the effects of different kinds of spending, we see the common threads as well as the distinctions between these models of measurement. Ultimately all of this material should hopefully enable us to live out a better life with this information in mind, and we spend some time reflecting on some of the key takeaways that seem to come to the surface in the happiness debate. To finish off, we field some listener questions on avoiding spending, and returns on investment, before diving into this week's bad advice featuring a video starring Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Mark Cuban!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A great book recommendation for getting to grips with branding and building relationships with consumers. [0:03:52.2]
• The interesting statement released by IIROC regarding conflicts of interest. [0:07:14.7]
• Barry Ritholtz's interview with Jack Brennan and their perspectives on index funds. [0:10:44.1]
• Books and studies on the subjects of happiness, finances, and addiction. [0:12:21.4]
• Different theories for the largest determining factors for happiness. [0:20:21.3]
• Hedonia and Eudaimonia; two different types of pleasure and their measurement. [0:24:47.6]
• Experienced happiness and experienced unhappiness; statistics from around the world. [0:32:04.1]
• Spending and happiness and the debate around the human ability to accurately forecast. [0:40:21.7]
• Designing a happy life based on all the research in the field. [0:44:48.8]
• Inverting the goal-setting process and working backward from what you don't want! [0:47:33.9]
• Love and work as the two most crucial ingredients for human happiness. [0:49:47.3]
• Avoiding the temptation of spending when aiming to save money. [0:51:15.6]
• Examples of investments that have paid off for Cameron and Benjamin. [0:52:31.1]
• Bad advice of the week; Buffett, Cuban, and Munger on diversification. [0:54:03.7]