In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Joe Pinsker examines the effect receiving a raise has on happiness. Behavioral economics has a lot to say on this topic, suggesting the effects of a raise are complex and multifaceted. The topic of the intertwined nature of money and happiness is an extensive one—and one that has spanned multiple disciplines from economics to psychology to sociology. While client happiness may seem beyond the scope of a Financial Professional’s purview, one could argue positively affecting the part of happiness attributable to income and finances has a high return for Financial Professionals (FPs) via: positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM), increased loyalty, more collaborative interactions, more productive communications, and increased risk tolerance (which can give FPs more latitude in facilitating clients’ financial goals).
A change in a client’s income can have far-reaching effects on not only their happiness, but other aspects of their life as well. While increases, decreases, and stagnation in an individual’s income have different effects on a client, we are going to focus on the effects of an increase in client income. While many people would assume that a raise or other form of income growth would have a strictly positive effect on an individual’s happiness, this is not the case. While a client’s happiness may increase, due to something called hedonic adaptation—the finding that individuals quickly become accustomed to the good and bad things in their lives and those things stop having as strong of an impact on happiness over time—the effects are not long-lasting (usually two weeks or less).
From a non-psychological perspective, increased income can have the following financial impacts on clients:
Many of these effects depend on the client and their financial situation prior to the change in income. So, as an FP what should you recommend if you want to have a lasting impact on a client’s happiness?
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