Does+money+really+bring+happiness?

It is a controversial and difficult issue to discuss. Actually, I think it depends on what people are like. For example, a wealthy man can be absolutely happy because he has achieved all his goals amassing his riches, whereas a middle class worker with a stable job is often angry and jealous because he can’t get enough money to reach a higher standard of living. What´s more, he even feels like a looser. On the other hand, a successful but greedy businessman could never feel satisfied, because all his obsession is to collect large amounts of money and possessions. However, a generous person not so well-off enjoys a lot his simple but comfortable life. He likes what he has and what he does. And because for him happiness means not material things but just the opposite -family, friends, laughter, walking, reading or helping others, which are the most rewarding and enriching acts of his life... I firmly believe that the secret of happiness is to like what you have and what you do. Enjoy it a lot and then, you’ll be able to be happy. Money is necessary to live, just like food is. More money makes life easier and more comfortable. That´s for sure. A lack of money causes problems and misfortunes. In my particular case, money helps me so much, of course. However, money can´t buy me happiness. Other things can do, like my family and my friends, a nice stroll, a good book, a sunny day, learning new things, helping people... I come from a poor background. My parents had to work terribly hard just to live and to eat. I couldn´t study and go to the university because I had to start to work early to help my family. At the time, culture didn´t matter too much. Thus, the expectations were to get a good job as soon as possible to earn money. Little by little my family, who had very little money, became reasonably well-off. My experiences taught me that it is always necessary to work hard to achieve targets. Sometimes, even with great effort you can´t reach your aims. But, what´s for sure is that there’s no gain without a struggle. A good advice from my parents was "don´t spend money that you don´t have". A useful recommendation is "save money, whenever you can". Definitely, from my point of view, everybody can be happy regardless of their being wealthy people or simply reasonably well-off. Conchi del Nogal, Avanzado 2