They might say money doesn’t buy happiness, and Biggie once fretted “Mo money, mo problems.” But a new study shows having more dough could buy you a longer life.
Researchers at Northwestern University tracked the lives of 5,400 Americans for nearly 25 years, and found that every time another $50,000 was stashed by middle age, an individual’s risk of death dropped.
And while genetics certainly plays a role in longevity, the researchers found DNA is apparently no match for cash: nearly 2,500 of the subjects were twins or siblings — and those who stashed $139,000 more than their sibs had an increased chance of outliving them.
“The within-family association provides strong evidence an association between wealth accumulation and life expectancy exists,” explained Dr. Eric Finegood from Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research. “Comparing siblings within the same family to each other controls for all of the life experience and biology that they share.”
Northwestern psychology professor and the study’s senior author, Greg Miller, noted, “Far too many American families are living paycheck to paycheck [while]….At the same time, wealth inequality has skyrocketed. Our results suggest that building wealth is important for health at the individual level…So, from a public health perspective, policies that support and protect individuals’ ability to achieve financial security are needed.”