Affluence Pays Off in a Happy Dividend

Money can buy happiness. That’s what Roper Starch Worldwide, a market research and consulting firm whose West Coast office is in Newport Beach, found in a recent survey.

The big bank accounts help, but affluent Americans are also more satisfied with their lives in a number of other ways, from the friends they’ve made to the moral code they live by, the poll found. The rich also report having happier marriages and more interesting jobs than the population as a whole, the firm said.

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Patrice Apodaca covers economic issues for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5979 and at patrice.apodaca@latimes.com.