Yes, you can – to a certain extent. But chances are you’re probably not getting the best bang for your buck.

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Money makes the world go round. But can it buy you happiness?

As it turns out, the answer is “yes”. Sort of.

For years, economists have been postulating the idea that happiness comes at the magical price of an estimated US$75,000 a year, beyond which it hits a slippery slope of diminishing returns. But now science is saying something different: that happiness is not a result of how much money you have, but how you use it.

Many of us tend to fall into a misconception when it comes to happiness – we think the more money we earn, the more we can have, and therefore the happier we’ll be.

However, that’s not exactly how things work. According to the sustainable happiness model, any increase ...