What is ‘Quality Of Life’
Quality of life is a highly subjective measure of happiness that is an important component of many financial decisions. Factors that play a role in quality of life vary according to personal preferences, but they often include financial security, job satisfaction, family life, health and safety. Financial decisions usually involve a tradeoff where quality of life is decreased in order to save money or, conversely, quality of life is increased by spending more money.
Explaining ‘Quality Of Life’
Commuting to work provides a good example. It is possible to save money on housing by living further away from popular job centers and commuting to work. However, commuters don’t have as much time to spend with family or on hobbies because of the extra time spent sitting in traffic. Some people consider this tradeoff worthwhile, while others choose to maximize their quality of life by spending more money to live closer to work.
Further Reading
- The structure of local public finance and the quality of life – www.journals.uchicago.edu [PDF]
- Assessing the causal relationship among communication, money management practices, satisfaction with financial status, and satisfaction with quality of life – link.springer.com [PDF]
- Impact of financial burden of cancer on survivors' quality of life – ascopubs.org [PDF]
- KIDSCREEN-52 quality-of-life measure for children and adolescents – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
- The role of amenities and quality of life in rural economic growth – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- Housing and the elderly in Singapore–financial and quality of life implications of ageing in place – link.springer.com [PDF]
