Does money buy happiness?

"The way to happiness is not by choosing to be happy, it's to find meaning in life," according to psychology professor Lyle Ungar.

"Go volunteer, spend time at a charity, give something of yourself. The people who are doing fine in that way are living longer," Ungar said.

Volunteering and other good deeds reduce physical pain, a study finds.

Volunteering has been shown to minimize stress, improve depression, reduce the risk for cognitive impairment -- even help us live longer. One reason for this is because giving to others contributes to our sense of community and belonging. And that is a key contributor to a healthy, longer life.

Giving is good for your health.

Prior analyses of brain scans found giving stimulates the reward centers of the brain, flooding out system with feel-good chemicals that produce what is known as a "helper's high".

Giving can also reduce pain perception, research shows. By studying scans of people's brains while they were thinking about giving, it was found that those who said they would donate money to help orphans were less sensitive to an electric shock than those who declined to give. 

"Prosocial spending," which is giving donations of money to others, reduced blood pressure and improved heart health. The study found that the act of donating money to save a life produced happiness at first.

In addition, the more helpful people thought their donation would be, the less pain they felt.