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Why Giving Money Away Makes You Happier and More Successful
Giving to others is an important secret for your own happiness and success.
There has been quite a bit of research showing that giving money away makes people happier than spending it on themselves.
In one of the largest studies to date on the topic, researchers looked at data from more than 200,000 people in 136 countries. They looked at all parts of the globe and consistently found that spending money on other people led to greater happiness.
The result held true for rich and poor countries alike. They found it doesn’t matter how much money you have — if you spend some of it on other people, you will personally see the benefits.
The researchers found that donating to charity boosted happiness to a similar degree as doubling your household income!
Additional research, cited in the book Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, shows that giving your money away not only makes you happier, but physically healthier, too. It doesn’t take much. The authors noted that spending as little as $5 to help someone else can increase your own happiness.
The dollar amount you give is not nearly as important as the perceived impact of the donation — if you can see your money making a difference, it will make you happy regardless of the monetary amount.
Generosity is also linked with greater professional success.
Adam Grant wrote one of his early books on this topic, called Give and Take. In the book, he shows that an overwhelming majority of highly successful people are also incredibly generous. Helping others actually drives their success. Therefore it isn’t surprising that Warren Buffett has pledged to give away 99% of his fortune.
Additional research has shown that when people donate to charity, they go on to achieve greater wealth themselves. This wasn’t just a correlation — it was directly caused by the charitable gift.
How can this be explained?
Psychologists and neuroscientists have identified a few ways that giving could lead to success.
One idea is that charity activates parts of the brain that are associated with meeting basic needs like food and…
