Unfortunately this article doesn't really differentiate between income versus savings, which I think is relevant to the discussion.<p>It makes sense to me that once you reach a reasonable salary level (such as the $75,000 threshold mentioned), that any additional increase in salary doesn't really affect happiness all that much, because at the end of the day it's still <i>tied to your job</i>. If you don't come to work every day, you don't get paid. And if you have a family to support, you can't really arbitrarily take a one (or many) years off to pursue other interests you may have in life. So while doubling your income level to $150,000 might marginally improve your happiness, the effect is limited because you're still (more or less) having to work the same amount.<p>I suspect that the next threshold has less to do with salary, and more to do with having enough of a savings such that you no longer have to go to work every day. Now, a lot more options are open to you. You can choose to continue working if you want, but you can also choose to stop, and instead spend time with your family, travel the world, write a book, or whatever else you might want. At that level, you also don't have to worry about serious medical bills or other unforeseen emergencies destroying your savings.