For decades, researchers have been looking at the connection between money and happiness. The findings? In short, it’s a mixed bag.

To be sure, there are ways that money can boost happiness, and below are some ideas to consider. But there are also obstacles to contend with. We’ll look first at those obstacles before turning to some recommendations.

The most significant challenge is the fact that—to a great extent—our happiness level is hard-wired into us. Everyone has a happiness “set point,” with the result that some people simply end up being happier than others, regardless of their finances or circumstances. People debate about how much that set point matters. To one degree or another, though, researchers agree that happiness isn’t entirely in our control.

Another reality to be aware of: Happiness for most people follows a predictable pattern throughout life. Specifically, that pattern tends to be U-shaped, with happiness often dipping in early adulthood, as responsibilities begin to pile on. Buying a home, climbing the career ladder and raising children—these things all take work and can take a toll. The good news is that happiness tends to start rising again by the time folks hit their 40s. But it’s hard to sidestep those earlier, more challenging years.

The third obstacle is what’s known as the Easterlin paradox. Richard Easterlin was a leading researcher on the psychology of money. One of his key findings was that when societies experience economic growth, the resulting rise in prosperity, counterintuitively, doesn’t seem to affect people’s happiness levels. Roughly the same percentage of Americans today report being very happy as did a hundred years ago, despite the vast improvement in our standard of living.

Someone with just an average income today enjoys luxuries that John D. Rockefeller might have only dreamed of. Why doesn’t happiness improve along with standard of living? Easterlin’s conclusion was that it’s not just our absolute standard of living that matters; it’s our relative standing. That’s why Scandinavian countries tend to rank highly in global happiness surveys. If there are fewer people with outsized—and ostentatious—wealth, that tends to make everyone feel better.

To be sure, these three factors are obstacles to contend with, and they’re generally hard to avoid. The good news, though, is that there are plenty of things that are well within our control, regardless of age or stage or financial standing. Below are five strategies you might consider as the new year approaches.

Plan. Suppose you’re thinking of taking a vacation next summer. Even if it’s several months away, happiness researchers suggest you start planning that vacation today. That’s because a finding in the research is that we derive enjoyment from looking forward to things. So if you increase the lead time before a vacation or other event you’re looking forward to, you’ll increase the enjoyment you derive from that experience.

Give. In a finding that’s been replicated more than once, giving has been found to boost happiness. Whether it’s to family, a friend in need or to an organized charity, giving almost universally brings us joy. According to the research, we get a lift from each gift we make. So writing five or 10 modest-sized checks may have more of a positive effect than one large donation.

Organize. Psychologists talk about the damaging effect of “open loops” in our minds. This refers to tasks that are unfinished. According to the research, they’re particularly unpleasant because they occupy disproportionate mental space. Suppose you have five items on your to-do list, but one of them is overdue. That one overdue task will tend to loom large, sapping energy, even while you’re working on the other items. That’s why I suggest keeping your financial life as simple as possible. The result, generally, will be fewer open loops to worry about.

What does this mean in practice? First, I suggest structuring your household finances so that as many things as possible run on autopilot. If you have a credit card or cards, turn on the auto-pay feature so you don’t have to keep track of deadlines. Do the same with your rent or mortgage, with your insurance and with other critical services.

If you’re in your working years, I suggest the pay-yourself-first approach to budgeting. Instead of trying to track every dollar—a task that few people have the time or discipline to undertake—instead simply divert a portion of your paycheck into savings before it even reaches your checking account.

Other steps you can take to streamline your finances in 2026: If you have more than one bank, credit card or brokerage account, see if you can consolidate any of them. If you have old 401(k) accounts, roll the balances into your current employer’s plan or into an IRA. And within each account, see if you can streamline the number of holdings. You could use a free tool like Portfolio Visualizer to examine the correlation between two funds and see whether your portfolio would be materially affected by consolidating into just one.

Buffer. In organizing your finances, another step I recommend is to build in a buffer. While cash isn’t a great long-term investment, it can serve an important purpose in reducing open loops. Even if your bank doesn’t pay much in the way of interest, I’d still maintain an amount large enough that you don’t have to ever worry about running low. If that means selling some stocks now to build up a cash reserve, that strikes me as worthwhile.

Delegate. My neighbor tells me that he has an assistant who works remotely—from Romania. She takes care of standard things like managing his calendar but also helps with a variety of other tasks that he finds tedious, like booking travel and paying bills. All of this can be done from afar. A service like this might not make sense for everyone, but there’s a useful takeaway: If there are tasks you really dread, don’t resign yourself to living with them. Instead, see if there’s a way to delegate them. Indeed, one of the best possible uses for money is to buy time. On this point, all happiness researchers agree.​