Money doesn’t buy happiness. At least not directly. But, success, and the often-resulting financial security does benefit those that achieve it. How?
It buys time. Much of our basic needs, such as food, housing, and other necessities, are relatively fixed. They are not fully changed depending on how much money you have. Sure, wealthy people have larger houses and other assets, less fortunate individuals may not enjoy. But, still, someone that makes $20,000 per year spends a larger percentage of their income on food and housing than someone that makes $1,000,000 a year. Even after adjusting for a larger house, and other larger expenses associated with higher income.
Lower income means that the individual spends a larger portion of their time earning money to support the basic needs they have. Therefore, if the basic necessities are relatively fixed, and do not directly increase with income, a larger income means that this individual should have more time to spend on what is important to them.
If you are spending your day making money to live, you have little time left to pursue the things that make you happy. Success, and money, doesn’t buy happinesss. But, it does buy time, which can be used to pursue happiness.