Money may be able to buy happiness but it costs nearly £2.7 million, according to new research.

The average person would need £2,658,144 to buy their dream home and car and have the holidays and lifestyle they aspire to.

It would take someone on an average salary 94 years to earn this sum, according to Yahoo! Personal Finance.

Women are more demanding than men, needing just over £2.7 million to pursue their dream lifestyle, compared with men's £2.6 million.

People also get more demanding as they get older, with people under 24 needing £2.55 million to be happy, while those in the 44 to 55 age group would need £2.9 million.

Yahoo! asked people to fill in an online questionnaire giving details of their salary and level of savings they had.

They were then asked questions about their ideal home, car and holiday, what type of person their ideal partner would be and how they would woo them, what they liked to eat and drink and what type of clothes they liked.

Each answer was given a numerical value that was then used to calculate the cost of happiness.

It found that 45 per cent of people wanted to be playboys or playgirls, enjoying a party lifestyle, while 39 per cent were dubbed flashers - "funds low, always spending heaps".

Friday January 09, 2004