Final Draft

UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGOGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR
INSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO “RAFAEL ALBERTO ESCOBAR LARA”

MARACAY. EDO ARAGUA

Reading and writing 1

Sec. 801

MONEY AND HAPINESS

Most of the world population believes that money has the ability of give them happiness. They are convinced that money can bring them all the things they have ever wanted; they also believe they would be happier. If they had more cars, houses, clothes and so on. In this new era people are exposed to all types of money related publicity the 365 days of the year. They can see on TV,magazines, news papers etc… All those programs based on money how to spend it, how to win it, who has more? Who has better things? The glamorous lifestyle of the rich and the famous. It is like if nothing else matters. Nevertheless can money really give them happiness? Or it is an empty way that leads to deception and sadness. Several studies have proved that having more money is not the way toward happiness, it is not the solution to all life problems in fact it makes more. Therefore money is not the creator of happiness as most people believe; it is the creator of more responsibilities and problems.

One of these studies proved that what people believe about money and how it can make them happier if they had more is not real; in fact it is the opposite. According to ABC's John Stossel, "Studies of lottery winners found that within a year, most say that they are no happier than they were before they won." The study takes a sample of one hundred lottery winners and ask then questions about there life days after they won the lottery and again one year later. The answers were very different but they all had something in common. They were less happy than before they won the lottery. They all had more problems and less people they could trust, most of their friends had turned their back on them because they did not want to give them money, also some of the marriages had broken up because of the differences they had deciding what to do with the money and in what they should spend it on.

Some of the families even lost all the money they won, and return to the same state of finance as they were before. 'Research shows that a significant number of lottery winners lose their winnings within five years, said Stephen Goldbart, a psychologist and co- director of the Money, Meaning and Choices Institute in Kentfield’. The experts believe that this happens because they do not have the financial knowledge they need. As a result they spent all their fortune in mansions, cars, clothes and in a highly expensive lifestyle. According to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards¨ They made an offer to the National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries to provide the organization's members with information to distribute to winners. The Investment News article highlighted the lack of financial guidance many winners receive from state lottery agencies; estimates show that nearly one-third of lottery winners become bankrupt. They do not invest the money so sooner than later they ran out of money. There are a few cases in which they even lost more money than they had so they were force to declare them selves in bankruptcy.

Another big lie about money is that If people had more money, they would be more relaxed and they would have more time for their families. Because the more money people earn, the more time they are likely to spend working, commuting and doing other compulsory activities that bring little pleasure, according to an article in the June 30 issue of Science that provides a novel explanation for why money does not bring happiness. Yes, money can help to obtain material possessions, but it does not buys the close relationships with friends, family, lovers, and people in society altogether. Also, money does not make people better or more relaxed; in fact, it often makes people behave differently from their true selves. People that pursue money end with money but in the process they damage their relationship with their love ones causing them unhappiness.
All these studies reach the conclusion that unless people have no money at all, money will not make them happy, and if people had more money, they would also have more responsibilities. Money is not the root of all evil. As the bible says “the love of money is the root of all evil”. And also the sure path to unhappiness.

Author

Israel Alvarez