How much money is needed for ideal life? Most are OK with £8m, study finds

theguardian.com:

How much money do you need to lead your “absolutely ideal life”? The answer for most people, according to new research by university psychologists, is $10m (£8.6m) – but not Americans, who say they need at least $100m, and frequently insist on $100bn.

Academics at the universities of Bath, Bath Spa and Exeter found that contrary to the assumption that everyone wants to be as rich as possible, most people say they would be happy with a few million.

A study of almost 8,000 people from across the world found that in 86% of countries the majority of people thought they could achieve their ideal life with $10m or less.

In Argentina, India and Russia more than 50% of people said they would like $1m or less. However, in the US the majority of people said they would need at least $100m or more to lead an ideal life, with 31.7% (the most popular response) saying that they would like at least $100bn.

In the UK, the most popular answer (26%) was $1m and the majority said $10m or less would be adequate. Thirteen per cent said they would like $100bn or more.

“A founding economic principle that everyone is motivated by ‘unlimited wants’, stuck on a consumerist treadmill and striving to accumulate as much wealth as they can, is untrue,” the study published in Nature Sustainability said. “[The] belief in this principle has also had dire consequences for the health of the planet. Striving to continually increase individual wealth, and pursuing unending economic growth, has come at a heavy cost. As wealth has increased, so too has resource use and pollution.”

Dr Paul Bain, the lead researcher and a reader at the department of psychology at the University of Bath, said that while the figures in the typical responses sound like a lot of money,