How much money would you need for your “ideal” life?
A common belief, according to UK researchers, is that people want to be as rich as possible. In a study published in Nature Sustainability, they tried to find out if this is true.
In two surveys, nearly 8,000 participants in 33 countries were asked to think about what their ideal life would look like, and how much money they’d need for it.
Participants were asked to choose an amount they would want to win in a lottery, with prizes starting at $10,000 and going all the way up to $100 billion.
In 86% of countries, including the UK, most people chose $10 million or less. And in some countries, such as India and Russia, most people said they could have their ideal life with $1 million or less.
Some participants said they needed a lot more. For example, in the first survey, 32% of US participants chose $100 billion, compared with just 8% in China. And almost 40% of participants in Indonesia chose $100 billion in the second survey, compared with 11% in Russia.
People who chose $100 billion were from both rich and poor countries, but they were often younger, more focused on success and power, and lived in countries where people are more accepting of inequality.
The researchers said the results challenge the idea that it is common and normal for people to have unlimited wants.
