Study: Financial security key to happiness

PRINCETON, N.J., March 18 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher found a powerful link between financial security concerns and satisfaction with one's life.

Talya Miron-Shatz, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, said that in a study involving women, those who concentrated much of their thinking on financial matters were much less likely to be happy with their lives.

Contrary to expectations, many of those with such worries had plenty of money by conventional standards, suggesting that there is more at play in obtaining peace of mind than simply having cash, Miron-Shatz said.

"Even if you are making a hundred grand a year, if you are constantly worried that you are going to get fired, that you are going to lose your health insurance or that you are simply not sure you are going to 'make it,' you are not going to be happy," Miron-Shatz said.

These concerns, affected a wide variety of women at all income levels, Miron-Shatz said.

Conversely, those who didn't fixate on finances like retirement savings, tuition for college or simply making ends meet, reported being the happiest of the group.

The study was published in the journal Judgment and Decision Making.