Money can't buy you love - nor, it seems, can it buy you happiness. Admittedly a generous wedge of cash coming out of the blue would give most of us a temporary lift, but study after study of lottery winners from around the world have found that money and happiness are two quite separate issues. Once the dust has settled, lottery winners revert to whatever state of mind they were in before their big win. The money, it seems, is soon forgotten.

So if cash doesn't do the trick, what does make us happy?
That's the question a growing army of researchers and academics are asking themselves. The answers, in order of importance, turn out to be family and friends, having meaning in our lives (for example a strong belief or personal philosophy), and life goals (such as demanding personal projects or interesting, fulfilling work).

So it's our relationships that make us truly happy. And it's not just our happiness that's at stake. Our mental and physical health, our longevity and indeed our whole quality of life are closely connected to the number and nature of the relationships we have - something that's especially true for the over 50s.

It makes sense when you think about it. We humans are social animals, and the life choices we make will influence, and be influenced by, our family, partners, children and friends. Their love and support is essential, whether we're working, looking for work, learning new skills or doing pretty much anything else.

How essential?
That's a question economists have been trying to answer. A study reported in The Times in June 2007 asked people to put a monetary value on relationships and other key parts of their lives, and the answers make interesting reading. Top of the list is 'excellent health', at £304,000 a year, followed by 'good health' at £251,000 a year. After that, though, it's all about our relationships. A good marriage is judged to be worth £53,833 a year (although strangely, living together trumps this at £82,500). Meeting favourite friends and relations 'most days' was valued at £63,833 a year, 'once or twice a week' at £50,500, and 'once or twice a month' at a still respectable £35,000.

On the downside, being widowed was priced at minus £200,000, separating with a partner at minus £57,667 and divorce itself at minus £24,500 a year. Sadly, the separated have the lowest levels of life satisfaction of any group. The message is clear: after our health, we value our relationships above all things - career, material possessions and so on. If we want to be happy, we neglect friends and family at our peril, something that's especially true as we get older.

Of course, striking the right balance between the demands of work (in all its many forms) and those around us isn't always easy. When we're constantly rushed, it's our relationships that tend to suffer.

In Keep your balance, we look at the effect long hours at work can have on our relationships and how most people would like to spend more time with their friends and families. Stuck in the middle examines the changing role of the over 50s, who increasingly combine a life of their own with responsibility for ageing relatives and care duties for grandchildren. Finally, It's never too late takes a look at how the divorced, widowed or single can find that special someone to share the second half of their lives with. Enjoy!

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