Money buys some happiness. It buys freedom from financial worries. Which by itself is a large source of happiness. But there are many other forms of happiness.<p>Freedom from health worries is another major one. Mastering skills, achieving goals, creating things of interest. Peer recognition. Feeling connected to other people. And last but not least, in nature boy's words: to love and be loved in return. For all these, money has a limited role.
<i>Having</i> some money brings a certain amount of reassurance. <i>Spending</i> money is a moment of pleasure.<p>Though as I understand it having a lot of money creates insecurity, so I guess there is a sweet spot.
Money does buy happiness, up to a certain threhold.<p>Once you have more than X amount of money, it has diminishing returns. A billionaire's meal isn't that much better than a tech bro making $250k/year.<p>Life has been a lot happier for me once I reached a certain threshold in wealth.