How To Lead a Rich Life

The even better news is that factors beyond dollars have a dollars-and-sense impact on happiness. Oswald and his colleagues have developed a methodology for determining which of the many forces that influence well-being -- income, marriage, job satisfaction -- are most important and how much they matter. Using these so-called happiness equations, he has figured out the "compensating amount" of money for various life events. (See "Happiness: a Price List," page 76.) For instance, being married contributes the same amount of happiness to your household as an extra $100,000 in annual income. (It makes you richer too -- married workers earn 10% to 20% more than singles -- and adds an average of three more years to your life). By the same token, when a man loses his job, it costs him $60,000 in happiness units beyond his missing salary. The cost of widowhood is enormous. The unhappiness associated with losing a spouse would take $245,000 a year to offset.

To Oswald, those depressing numbers suggest a way out of the rat race. In a world where every politician is focused on improving the lifestyle of his constituents (still banking on the old formula that economic growth equals happiness), this body of research could be the basis for what he calls "a radical new approach to government intervention that works not based on what people have but on what they aspire to." An example: "The importance of relationships to well-being looms large in the data, yet every Western society has turned its back on policy addressing divorce, separation, cohabitation, and marriage -- which is potentially more important to people than cash."

True Wealth

Redefining the American Dream

What is the sound of a nation questioning the meaning of success and the value of money? According to Ed Keller and Jon Berry, CEO and a senior research director, respectively, of RoperASW (the research firm responsible for the Roper Poll), it's the sound of peer-to-peer conversation rather than Madison Avenue pitches or Wall Street formulas. More and more, these world-class opinion analysts argue, the opinions that matter most are those that flow person to person -- whether it's over the back fence or across the Internet.

But not all opinions matter equally. The conversation that is shaping the future of success -- literally redefining the American Dream -- is dominated by an increasingly powerful new leadership class, a diverse group that Roper first identified more than 60 years ago as the Influentials. This slice of the American fabric is, Roper suggests, the leading indicator of all of society: 21 million people whose thoughts, decisions, behavior, and lifestyle influence the rest of the country. Demographically average -- they're college-educated, married homeowners with a median age of 45 and a household income of $55,300 and otherwise are as diverse as the population of the United States -- the Influentials hang together as engaged activists with restless minds and pragmatic optimism. Keller and Berry provide a portrait of this subculture in their book, The Influentials: One American in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy (Free Press, 2003). In the book, and in interviews with Fast Company, they make it clear that the most pressing issue facing the Influentials is the changing relationship between wealth and success.

If most people hang their self-worth and self-esteem on their relative status and their spiraling aspirations, the Influentials represent a profound adjustment. Says Berry: "Their attitude is, if this is what I have -- in terms of money, talent, resources, opportunity -- then what do I do with it right now? What matters? The Influentials live in that place all the time. The things that matter matter more than ever." When it comes to what matters to the Influentials, a distinct hierarchy emerges. Berry and Keller crunched 30 years' worth of data on attitudes toward the American Dream, the good life, what makes life "richer or fuller," and what material resources it takes to produce what the Influentials want.

The most intensely held values of the Influentials can be grouped into three themes: strong relationships (with family, spouse or romantic partner, friends, and broader connections); personal integrity (honesty, authenticity, being true to yourself); and exploration (not adventure so much as knowledge, learning, open-mindedness, and creativity). At the bottom of the list of priorities? Impressing others, wealth, looking good, status, and power.

The Influentials don't preoccupy themselves with keeping up. They're more concerned with keeping fresh. The focus is on "learning, experimenting, and creating in every aspect of life," says Keller. That's true of travel, fitness, even technology. When it comes to acquiring stuff, says Berry, "the key criteria is what's going to be engaging and interesting rather than accumulating badges and status symbols."