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Money does buy happiness, and for one group of people, top economists say the limit does not exist

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At one point in your life you’ve likely been told, “Money can’t buy you happiness.”

Two renowned economists—the late Daniel Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, and University of Pennsylvania professor Matthew Killingsworth—decided to put this adage to the test.

Separately, Kahneman and Killingsworth published two different papers with conflicting results about the relationship between money and happiness. In Kahneman’s 2010 study, he and his colleague, fellow Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, found that happiness increases with income up until $75,000, after which it plateaus.

Killingsworth’s 2021 study, on the other hand, found that happiness increased alongside income with no limit.

In 2023, the two experts combined forces to finally answer: Is there a limit to how much money can bring you happiness? 

It turns out for most people, there isn’t.

How much money you need to be happy

The acclaimed economists’ study, published in the journal PNAS, found that how happy money makes you depends on your overall emotional well-being. Drawing upon more than 450,000 responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a daily survey of 1,000 U.S. residents conducted by the Gallup Organization from 2008 to 2009, researchers found that correlations between money and happiness were split into three groups based on well-being: least happy, middle-range happy, and the most happy.

They found that for the least happy group, happiness rose with income until $100,000, then plateaued. For those in the middle range of emotional well-being, happiness continued increasing linearly with income with no limit, and for the happiest group, happiness rose and then actually accelerated once they were past $100,000.

“In the simplest terms, this suggests that for most people larger incomes are associated with greater happiness,” said Matthew Killingsworth, a senior fellow at Penn’s Wharton School and lead paper author, in the press release

“The exception is people who are financially well-off but unhappy,” he added. “For instance, if you’re rich and miserable, more money won’t help. For everyone else, more money was associated with higher happiness to somewhat varying degrees.”

One of the coauthors, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania Barbara Mellers, reflected that these findings show that money and emotional well-being aren’t connected by a single relationship. Happiness is dependent on a multitude of factors—and for the most unhappy, money alone cannot change that once you reach a certain income level.

The team of researchers behind the study believe that these findings could have real-world implications beyond how people relate to money. This kind of knowledge matters to individuals navigating career choices or weighing a larger income against other priorities in life, Killingsworth said.

That being said, Killingworth emphasizes that well-being depends on much more than income. 

“Money is just one of the many determinants of happiness,” he said in the press release. “Money is not the secret to happiness, but it can probably help a bit.”

Why money makes you happier

Everyone has different reasons more money would make them happier: a relief from the stressful grips of student loan debt, being able to afford a nice home, providing for kids, having money to travel, better access to quality medical care, and creating a cushion for retirement.

But there are other factors at play when it comes to income and happiness.

Forbes reported that the late happiness researcher Ed Diener—nicknamed Dr. Happy—wrote in his book Happiness, “Financial resources can serve as a buffer against life’s negative events,” meaning that more money allows you to avoid the life stressors and worries that can come with being less fortunate.

Humans also often fear scarcity, according to University of Texas professor Raj Raghunathan. He notes in his book If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?, that feeling like we have enough is crucial to happiness: “When we are feeling abundant, life seems like a cozy mess: perfect despite its imperfections.” With that comes a sense of security, feeling like we have access to all the resources we could need.

More money also leads to a greater sense of freedom, according to sociologist Rachel Sherman and author of the book Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence. When she asked wealthy New Yorkers about the benefits of being wealthy, many responded that it provided freedom, a sense of control over their lives, and a feeling of autonomy.

Lastly, your happiness also depends on how you use your money. A 2017 study found that using money to buy time—specifically, buying time-saving services like help with common household chores such as cleaning, shopping, and cooking—increased happiness. Other research indicates that spending money on others and prioritizing experiences over material possessions both promote greater happiness.

For more on happiness:

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Turkey plans new big tech regulations that risk clash with U.S.

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Turkey is planning new rules to rein in the dominance of major tech firms, imitating the European Union’s regulatory approach at the risk of provoking U.S. retaliation.

The bill, set to be submitted to parliament soon, would prevent technology companies such as Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. from favoring their own services in search engines, app stores, or marketplaces, senior Turkish officials told Bloomberg. The bill is backed by the ruling party and was prepared in collaboration with Turkey’s antitrust authority.

Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue, added the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. 

The move comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and the European Union over digital regulations. The EU’s Digital Markets Act or DMA, enacted in May 2023, aims to curb anti-competitive practices by imposing obligations on “gatekeeper” platforms. Turkey’s proposal aligns with the EU’s approach and could risk straining the nation’s trade ties with Washington. 

US President Donald Trump has strongly criticized the EU’s DMA, calling it “overseas extortion” targeting American tech firms. In response, he has threatened to impose tariffs. 

Under the proposal, closed ecosystems like Apple’s would be required to let users install third-party apps from outside of their platforms, the officials said. In Apple’s case, this means allowing downloads to iPhones and iPads from outside of the App Store, similar to how Google allows sideloading on Android devices. 

It would also restrict platforms from processing user data without explicit consent and limit how they use that data for commercial purposes. 

Additionally, tech firms would be required to provide commercial users — such as app developers, advertisers and marketplace sellers — with clear information on service scope, performance, and pricing. 

The proposal is still subject to revisions before being enacted, and its final provisions could change during the legislative process. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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In wake of tragedies, BofA tasks senior execs with overseeing junior banker workload

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Bank of America, which has come under scrutiny for its treatment of junior bankers, is changing who is overseeing the workloads of its young executives. The bank is now having senior bankers—those who hold a title of director or above—monitor the nature and volume of assignments piled on lower level staff who, in an industry famous for grueling hours, often work well into the night to complete deals. 

Bank of America’s efforts come after a series of tragedies involving young people that have shaken the investment banking sector. In January, Carter Anthony McIntosh, a 28-year-old investment banking associate at Jefferies, passed away from a suspected drug overdose. McIntoch was working as much as 100 hours a week, the New York Post reported. Leo Lukenas, a BofA junior banker, died in May from a blood clot. Lukenas had worked 100-plus hour weeks before his passing. BofA in 2014 instituted policies to limit young banker hours, the junior execs were often pressured into lying about their workloads, the WSJ has reported.

To carry out its oversight program, BofA has long relied on what it calls a chief resource officer model. Under this model, BofA used mid-level executives, on one-year rotations, to allocate work to junior investment bankers, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

BofA has opted to shake up the model as it seeks to build the next generation of leaders, a person familiar with the situation said. The investment bank will now rely on senior bankers, working in permanent, full-time positions across sectors and regions, who will supervise young banker development as their CROs. 

Bank of America  is picking volunteers or assigning the role to the senior bankers, who are no longer dealmakers, the person said. BofA is seeking executives who have a very strong leadership quality, have managed teams and feel strongly about the evolution of junior bankers, they said.

“We want all of our junior bankers to have the best experience possible, learning from the teammates they work with and further benefiting from the career growth and development this role brings,” according to a BofA statement.  

BofA Securities, the investment banking division of Bank of America, employs thousands of bankers. It’s unclear how many are junior bankers. Young executives typically spend several years as a junior banker, including two as an analyst and two to three years as an associate, before they move up to vice president. At that point they usually work on a sector team, like consumer or technology or industrials.

BofA also cut roughly 150 junior investment banking roles, the person. The majority of people that were reduced were “mapped to new roles” outside of investment banking like financial analysis or strategic planning, the person said. “They were given the opportunity to move somewhere else,” they said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Four teens charged for alleged pistol-whipping, attempted Bitcoin robbery of OnlyFans influencer

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Four teenagers in Houston, Texas, were charged Thursday for assaulting and trying to steal Bitcoin and Ethereum from an OnlyFans influencer in early March. Kaitlyn Siragusa, known online as “Amouranth,” was sleeping in her home in northwest Houston when three men broke into her room and demanded cryptocurrency, reported FOX 26. Siragusa had previously posted on social media a screenshot of her more than $20 million in cryptocurrency balances, according to the New York Post.

The three men allegedly pistol-whipped the OnlyFans influencer three times before Siragusa’s husband fired shots at the suspects, who then fled Siragusa’s home, according to FOX. The Harris County District Clerk’s Office identified the three men on Friday as Demarcus Morris Jr., 17; Dylan Nesho Campbell, 18; and Bryan Anthony Salazar Guerrero, 19. Officials also identified a 16-year-old as a suspect.

“They brought duct tape and masks and were armed with handguns,” Siragusa posted on X.

The assault and attempted robbery is just one of a series of recent attacks on individuals with known crypto holdings. 

In late January, French police leapt into action after a group of criminals kidnapped David Balland, cofounder of the crypto hardware developer Ledger, and his wife, demanding a ransom in Bitcoin. French authorities, however, tracked down the kidnappers and rescued the couple. Balland’s wife was found unharmed but the Ledger cofounder had his finger severed in the ordeal. The Paris prosecutor’s office said that police had arrested 10 individuals alleged to be part of the kidnapping.

And in February, six men were accused in a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit of kidnapping three family members and a nanny from a Chicago townhouse, according to the Chicago Tribune. The criminals released the victims after they forced the family to hand over more than $15 million in cryptocurrency. 

Crypto executives and wealthy crypto owners are taking notice. Some are hiring bodyguards to protect themselves from would-be attackers, according to WIRED. And others are buying up “wrench-attack” insurance, or policies designed to insure individuals if they’re the victims of a physical-force crypto robbery.

“In general the best things Bitcoiners can do to stay safe is to remain private,” Jameson Lopp, a famous early Bitcoiner, told Fortune. “The goal should be to avoid becoming a target,” he said. “Don’t go around telling anyone about your Bitcoin holdings. Don’t flaunt your wealth online or in meatspace. Don’t engage in risk activities such as high-value face-to-face trades.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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