> Depends on the persons age and maturity level too. At some point shiny new cars and other trinkets are not really what makes you happy...

I don't know if I agree with that. Just because those things don't make you happy doesn't mean there aren't other things you can do with money that make you happy. Or maybe I just haven't matured enough yet?

At least I think I am at the point I don't care too much about having a fancy car or nice house.

Still, the thing that I have found to increase my happiness the most is giving it to someone else and seeing someone be really grateful. If I had more money I could do the same thing but to more people probably.

And probably just knowing that I have enough money that I don't need to worry would increase my happiness significantly. Even better would be that my parents don't have to work.

>Still, the thing that I have found to increase my happiness the most is giving it to someone else and seeing someone be really grateful. If I had more money I could do the same thing but to more people probably.

Well, that's not money then, that's helping others. One can help other people with no or little money too.

I agree completely. I think much joy can be found in new experiences, though, which money certainly enables.

Very few meaningful experiences require significant amount of money.

Again, I agree in principle. But to give a concrete example, my girlfriend and I recently missed a leg of a flight while en route to Europe. Totally our fault. If I didn't have a comfortable amount in savings this would have been a disaster. Instead, within a few minutes, we had accommodations in our layover country and a train booked to our final destination (all at fairly exorbitant prices compared to if we had booked in advance). But maybe this is just an example of alleviating financial anxiety versus enabling meaningful experience.

Also, "significant amount of money" is terribly subjective. I know people to whom $100 is a significant amount of money.