Money doesn't buy happiness, except when disability strikes

[Guest guest]

Money doesn't buy happiness, except when disability strikes

07 Apr 2005 Medical News Today

Financial 'buffer' appears to help preserve well-being after health

setbacks -

The old saying that 'money doesn't buy happiness' may hold true most

of the time. But when a serious health problem comes along, financial

resources may really cushion the blow to a person's psyche, a new

study suggests.

The finding, made by researchers at the University of Michigan Health

System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, stands in contrast to

previous research that showed no major differences in self-reported

happiness and well-being between wealthy people and those with modest

financial assets.

Instead, the study finds that people with relatively large financial

assets before they became disabled reported substantially better well-

being, and less sadness and loneliness, after they were disabled than

was reported by people with fewer financial resources who also became

disabled.

Although the difference eased a few years after disability set in,

the researchers say the finding has important implications for such

things as personal savings, retirement planning and " safety net "

government programs for the seriously ill and disabled.

The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological

Science, the flagship journal of the American Psychological Society.

It's based on an analysis of data from 478 older Americans who were

interviewed regularly and in depth for as long as nine years, before

and after they suffered a health problem that left them disabled. The

data are from the Health and Retirement Study, conducted by the U-M

Institute for Social Research with funding from the National

Institute on Aging.

" Happiness and well-being may not depend on a person's financial

state in times of health, but when that health fails, as it will

eventually for most of us, money matters, " says senior author

Ubel, M.D., a U-M professor of internal medicine and psychology, and

a staff physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

" Money may not buy happiness, but it does seem to buy people out of

some of the misery that's associated with a decline in health

status, " says lead author Dylan , Ph.D., a research specialist

at the VA Health Services Research & Development Center and a U-M

psychologist and internal medicine research investigator.

Ubel directs, and is a member of, the U-M Center for Behavioral

and Decision Sciences in Medicine. They note that research has

already shown that psychological well-being, or lack of it, can

affect people's response to medical treatment, and their ability to

work or care for themselves and their family. Other research has

shown that half of personal bankruptcies are linked to health care

costs. The federal bankruptcy reforms now under consideration in

Congress do not exempt medical costs.

For the new study, the researchers focused on the data from the 478

HRS study participants who became disabled during the years when they

were surveyed regularly, starting in 1992, and continuing until 2000.

Participants were classified as disabled if they became unable to

carry out routine tasks of daily living such as walking, getting out

of bed, eating and dressing without help.

The researchers then divided the participants into two income groups:

those with financial assets above the median level, and those below

the median. Assets in the HRS are measured by adding together home

equity, savings, stocks, bonds and other assets, and subtracting

debts. The median net worth in the study was $98,400, and 311 of the

participants had assets below that level.

The researchers then looked at how the participants had rated their

overall psychological well-being on a standardized survey, focusing

on happiness, enjoyment of life, sadness and loneliness. They looked

at how that self-reported well-being changed over time, from pre-

disability to post-disability.

The analysis showed that those whose financial assets had been above

the median before they were disabled suffered a much smaller drop in

self-reported well-being than those who had been below the median. A

second analysis confirmed that there was a relationship between a

person's net worth and the drop in their well-being after disability.

The researchers looked at data from a sub-group of people who had

well-being data on record from several years after they suffered

their disability. Although the researchers did not assess again

whether the disability was still present, or whether it had lessened,

they did find that the well-being of those with lower net worth had

improved somewhat. The well-being of those with more financial means

had actually decreased slightly.

In all, Ubel says, the results should help individuals and policy

makers understand the importance of financial security in

relationship to a person's health and well-being. Since disability of

some form or another strikes a large percentage of Americans, and

increases as people grow older, the issue will only become more

important as the baby boom generation ages.

" Our study suggests that it is better to save for a rainy day, than

to spend your savings on a house where it doesn't rain, " he says.

Ubel and also note that their study does not demonstrate

directly that having more money and more assets shields a person from

a psychological downfall when disability strikes. There could be some

psychological factors associated with a person's ability to

accumulate wealth that could also make them more resilient when they

become disabled.

But in all, they say, the research is the first time that financial

assets have shown to be a possible buffer for a person's well-being

after a decline in health.

In addition to Ubel and , the study team included U-M

biostatistician and research associate Mohammed Kabeto, M.S., and

Langa, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of general

medicine at the U-M Medical School, a research investigator at the

Ann Arbor VA, and a faculty associate at the Institute for Social

Research.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and

Human Development. The Health and Retirement Study is funded by the

National Institute on Aging. is supported by a VA career

development award, Ubel by a Presidential Early Career Award for

Scientists and Engineers, and Langa by an NIA Career Development

Award and a Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar Award.

Reference: Psychological Science, forthcoming (accepted for

publication)

University of Michigan Health System

http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/relarch.cfm

[Guest guest]

I found this study astounding. My CMT and lack of insurance has wiped us out

financially. We no longer have anything for a rainy day. For me, my faith in

someone out there that is bigger than you and I have helped. I am thankful to

wake up each day and still be alive. I have found ways to save on groceries and

other things we need. And my hubby is disabled due to a heart condition too. We

have a double whammy. Oh don't think I am a really strong person who never gets

depressed in my early thirties when faced with a hysterectomy or death, I fell

apart cause I had no children and I wanted them, I got depressed and tried

suicide three times. Then I got into a program found faith and I

just keep moving along day by day. So this study was strange to me.

Cathleen in Arkansas