//From <<the state press>>
it takes just $40,000 a year to be happy.
The $40,000 number is important because it just should drive home to you that once you have the roof over your head and the food, you’re relying on your own internal mechanism for optimism.
It was right there in the real estate section of The New York Time, and it totally drives home the point that however much money you have, you want 20 percent more I have seen that absolutely to be true. I’ve had a $200,000 income in L.A. with no dependents, no mortgage and absolutely nothing to spend my money on, and I’ve lived on $40,000 in New York City with two kids, which is $4,000 above the poverty line there, and my happiness level didn’t change.
Lost Ferry 