I like to think of it that different way - if money can’t buy happiness then what makes you sad? List some things out - can money prevent you from being sad about those things? That’s a decent alternative assessment.
I think often we conflate money with buying foolish things. It’s not always having money to buy silly things but being able to not have to worry about getting the extra order of food when you are out for a meal. It’s a sense of calm in a way and I think that’s what a lot of people don’t realize due to social conditioning. It’s pretty annoying stuff really. What’s more annoying is how effective they are at manipulating!
I prefer this too. "Do what makes you happy" becomes, Don't do what makes you sad. Difficult doesn't mean it will make a person sad, but it likely doesn't make them that happy in the moment either.
All this information at our fingertips from some very smart people - most of us spend our time eating trash.