"Some of The Unhappiest People In The World"

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Morgan Housel** (1:02)
All right, welcome back. Nice to see you. I got some hopefully interesting stuff for you today, mostly because your questions that you send me have been so good and so great. So thank you for sending those in. Send more of them, of course, pod at longtermwords.com.
I want to start with a conversation about something that we talk about a lot, but probably don't talk about it enough, and there's a million different ways to parse it. And it's one of the most important topics with money, but there's no answer to it. It's always going to be an evolving thing that people need to figure out for themselves. And that's just the idea of money and happiness. And I saw this post go viral on Reddit a week ago. It exploded. It was all over the internet. And usually when that happens is because somebody said something that is simple, but people agree with. And I want to read it to you. The post says, I have a secret to share.
After the first two or three million dollars, a paid off home, and a good car, there is no difference in quality of life between you and Jeff Bezos. A cheeseburger is a cheeseburger whether you are a billionaire or it is you. Money is nothing but a piece of paper or a number in your app. Real life is outdoors. Become financially independent. That's usually two or three million dollars. Have good food. Enjoy the relations. Work out. Sleep well. Call your parents. That's all there is to life. The sooner you figure that out, the happier you will be. That's pretty good.
That's a pretty good statement.
I could, of course, push a little bit around the edges. Is there actually a difference in life between you and Jeff Bezos if you have two million dollars? Well, he's flying private and he has... You can have anyone over for dinner to have an interesting conversation with. There is, of course, things you can do with money that can give you a better life. What I do think can be true, though, is that the highest dividend that money pays is independence. And you can achieve independence, probably in terms of living where you want, socializing with whom you want, retiring when you want, at a reasonable level of wealth.
And the idea that the amount of money that you're going to need to maximize your happiness is a big, significant number, I think is a pretty serious misconception. And I will tell you, having spent quite a bit of time talking about money with very wealthy people, the thing that will stick out the most is not what money has done for them, it's what money has not done for them and cannot do for them.
It's an astounding thing to watch. And I say this as somebody who wants more money myself and higher net worth myself. And I think I can use more money to have a better life for myself and my family. But it's astounding to watch what happens when you're not using it right, or you're not using it for independence. And so the second thing I want to share with you today, I want to bring in our first guest on the show, and that is the 37th President of the United States. Please welcome Richard Nixon to the show. Richard, what do you have to say about wealth and happiness?

**Richard Nixon** (3:57)
You feel that, well, gee, isn't it just great to, you know, to have enough money to afford to live in a very nice house and to be able to play golf and to have nice parties and to wear good clothes and shoes and suits, etc., etc., etc., or travel if you want to? And the answer is, if you don't have those things, then they can mean a great deal to you. When you do have them, they mean nothing to you. To me, the unhappiest people of the world are those in the watering places, the international watering places like the South Coast of France and Newport and Palm Springs and Palm Beach, going to parties every night, playing golf every afternoon, then bridge, drinking too much, talking too much, thinking too little, retired, no purpose.