Money and Happiness

In the February 25, 2012 edition of The Economist, an article showed that many poor countries report higher levels of happiness than the U.S.  These include Indonesia, India, Mexico, and Brazil.  Perhaps we should not be too shocked.  If our wealth does not also provide us with a meaningful story for our lives, it would be of little value.

When Saint Gregory remarked upon his years after he gave his wealth away to the church and to the poor, giving up his rank of nobility, living in asceticism where he ate only small amounts of fruits and vegetables between bouts of fasting, he said it was the happiest years of his life.

I suppose he knew he would be sainted, and for a sixth century Roman, what could be a better ending for the story of one's life?  What amount of wealth could give him more satisfaction?