Jack Ma says being a millionaire is troublesome, middle class are happiest

Photo credit: Asia Society.

How much money do you need to be happy? If you believe the word of a man who’s experienced both very low and very high incomes, it’s not as much as you think.

At a recent internal meeting, Jack Ma reportedly shared his thoughts on wealth and happiness (currencies converted):

China’s happiest people are those earning US$3,000 to US$4,500 a month.

Why? Because, according to Ma, people earning US$3,000, US$4,500, or US$6,000 a month “can have a little house, and a car, and a family.”

“There’s nothing happier than that, that is a happy life,” he said.

As far as being wealthy, Ma says that’s not all it’s cracked up to be. “Once you get beyond a few million, the troubles start coming up,” he said.

Of course, most of us non-millionaires are probably thinking we’d take on a few extra troubles in return for Jack Ma’s bank account numbers, but for what it’s worth, Ma has said this kind of thing before. About a year ago, appearing on a Chinese TV show, he told the host that his happiest days were when he was working as a teacher and earning less than US$15 a month.

“The more money you have, the more things you have to do,” he lamented.