Depressing new study appears to disprove claim that money doesn't buy happiness

The rich really do have more fun! 

If inflation wasn't depressing you already, a new study has found that happiness levels are statistically to income.

The billionaires of the world - like Jeff Bezos and Kim Kardashian - are enjoying life to the fullest, compared to the average US worker. 

'I think a big part of what's happening is that when people have more money, they have more control over their lives,' the study's author, Matthew A. Killingsworth, told CBS MoneyWatch. 'The money-happiness curve continues rising well beyond $500,000 a year.' 

Highly cited research in 2010 suggested that a person reached peaked happiness once they hit $75,000 - or roughly $110,000, adjusted for inflation. 

Last year, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School senior fellow debunked the well-known 2010 study. However, in his original study, researchers lacked data from people earning more than $500,000, leading to an uncertainty if salaries higher than that would improve happiness. 

The billionaires of the world - like Jeff Bezos and Kim Kardashian - are having more fun than you! A new study found that your happiness is actually directly related to your income.

Killingsworth sampled more than 33,000 employed US adults between the ages of 18 and 65 and asked them to rate their overall life satisfaction compared to their income on a scale of one to seven. 

He compared his group's rating to a study that looked at the ultra rich that made between $3million to $7.9million. 

He found that the wealthy rated their life satisfaction much higher than those making six figures, the study, published in Happiness Science, shows, indicating that happiness in relation to your income has no cap. 

'I suspect it's much more fundamental and psychologically deeper than simply buying more stuff,' he told CBS. 

He found that those making around $30,000 rated their lives an average of a four, while those earning around $500,000 rated their lives above a five. 

Multimillionaires, on the hand, typically rated themselves closer to a six. 

'It certainly doesn't look like half the population is already beyond the point where more money stops mattering, for example,' Killingsworth said. 

However, it doesn't mean the ultra-wealthy are always happy and Killingsworth found that those who did not start with a large income appreciate the higher sums more, and therefore, are more happy. 

He found that those making around $30,000 rated their lives an average of a four out of seven, while those earning around $500,000 rated their lives above a five. Multimillionaires, on the hand, typically rated themselves closer to a six

Those making over $150,000 expressed more stress financially than those making between $40,000 and $149,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.  

'A given amount of money appears to yield a lot more happiness for people who have less money to begin with,' he said. 'Economic trends in the US seem to be moving in the opposite direction — the poorest folks have gained the least in recent decades, and the richest folks have gained the most.' 

However, not all is lost for those with lower incomes, as their salary isn't the only factor in happiness. 

'I think it's important for everyone – policymakers, executives, and regular people – to keep in mind that so many things matter besides money,' he said. 

Some alternatives include spending quality time with friends and family and focusing on well-being. 

'It's entirely possible to be rich and miserable or poor and happy,' he said. 'The main reason is simply that lots of things matter for happiness besides money.'