The old saying “money can’t buy happiness” has been around for years upon years.  Although it is meant to motivate people into doing something they love instead of doing something for a paycheck, the heart-felt phrase couldn’t be more wrong.

You don’t have to be rich to be happy.  Surrounding yourself with people you love and activities you enjoy are some of the most important ways to live a long and cheerful life.

However, money most definitely plays a role in how happy you are or how happy you end up being.  For example, say your favorite hobby of all time is boating.  You love going with your friends and family, taking out the jet skis and doing flips off the side of the boat.  But, how is any of that possible without money?

You need money to maintain the boat, to fuel the boat, to buy food for the day, to fuel the jet skis, to dock the jet skis, to dock the boat, to pay for life jackets, to pay for floats and rafts, to clean everything once the day is over – the list could go on and on.

So, let’s think about this.  Boating is your favorite past time.  But how to you boat if you don’t have the cash to pay for it?  Hence, “money can’t buy happiness” is completely inaccurate.

In addition, in order to live in today’s day and age, money is a requirement to be successful and content with your life.  There are so many technologies that have shifted from being optional to being essential to everyday life.

Cell phones, for example, were once insignificant.  The technology was still developing and they were not necessarily meant for everyday use.  However, modern cell phones are one of the most important products on the market.  They can be used for talking with family members, playing games, connecting to the internet, and communicating with colleagues. Children in grade school all the way up to elderly senior citizens have cell phones, or a phone at least, at their immediate disposal.

But how are technologies like these obtained? With money – and lots of it.  Older generation phones can go for several hundred dollars while newer phones can be upwards of one thousand dollars.

Therefore, money is one of the most important parts of leading a content and successful life. While there are other vital aspects, such as surrounding yourself with friends, family, pets, and support, whether we like to admit it or not, we depend on money to make us happy much more than we think we do.