Can money make you happy? Of course it can

Money may not buy happiness, but what it can buy is security. And with security comes peace of mind. And with peace of mind comes happiness.

Are you happy? Do you think you could be happier? And if so, is money the thing you think might do the trick? Most people will answer 'yes' to this one. The government thinks they are wrong to do so.

Happiness doesn't come from money, or so their theory goes. Instead it comes from doing things for others; from being part of a community; from "having close personal ties"; having a goal; and from managing a reasonable work / life balance. It isn't such about standard of living but about quality of life, as David Cameron likes to put it.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.