Buying overpriced indulgences may feel good in the short term, but you pay the price later. Or at least that’s the conventional wisdom.

But a study by a couple of business-school professors says splurging now makes you happier later. Even more surprising: Not splurging now gives you pangs of regret later.

Anat Keinan, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, and Ran Kivetz, a professor of marketing at Columbia Business School, make their case for the vice lifestyle in an article in the Harvard Business Review.

One of their studies polled college students and alumni on the subject of spring breaks. Regret about not having spent more money or traveling during breaks increased with time, whereas regret about not having worked, studied, or saved money during breaks decreased with time.

The authors write: “We saw a similar pattern in a study of how businesspeople perceived past choices between work and pleasure. Over time, those who had indulged felt less and less guilty about their choices, whereas those who had been dutiful experienced a growing sense of having missed out on the pleasures of life.” (As the old saying goes, nobody dies saying “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”)

The authors also did a study of mall shoppers, asking about their regret about buying an expensive item of clothing. Those who anticipated short-term regret bought less-expensive items, while those who anticipated long-term regret splurged. “Thinking about short-term regret drives consumers to be virtuous, while thinking about long-term regret leads them to be extravagant,” the authors write.

Luxury-goods makers, of course, will eat this up. I can see the slogan now: “Luxury: It’s Good for Life.” Or “Cartier: You’ll be sorry you didn’t.” Whether luxury is good for your finances is another matter. (Nobody goes bankrupt saying “I wish I’d spent more on Gucci bags).

Wealth Report readers, what do you think? Do the long-term benefits of indulgence outweigh the short-term risks of regret?

出手闊綽地購買奢侈品，短期內可能你的自我感覺還不錯，可好景不長，不久后你就會為自己的一擲千金付出代價。果真如此嗎？也許這只是傳統看法。

幾位商學院教授進行的研究發現，當下揮金如土能增加你日后的幸福感。還有更意想不到的研究結果：如果現在不奢侈一把，往后會令你追悔莫及。

哈佛大學商學院(Harvard Business School)助理教授阿奈特•凱南(Anat Keinan)與哥倫比亞大學商學院(Columbia Business School)營銷學教授瑞恩•科維茨(Ran Kivetz)在《哈佛商業評論》(Harvard Business Review)的一篇文章中證明了這一“墮落”生活方式的確有如此功效。

他們就春假的話題對在校大學生和畢業的校友進行了調查。調查發現，對于在春假期間未能花掉更多錢或是未能出門旅游的受訪者，他們的后悔情緒隨著時間的推移與日俱增，而那些當初后悔沒能在假期好好工作、學習或是存錢的人，這種感覺則隨著時間慢慢淡化。

凱南和科維茨在文章中寫道：我們在研究商務人士如何看待自己過去在工作和娛樂之間作出的選擇時也有類似發現。隨著日子一天天過去，那些曾經沉溺于吃喝玩樂的生意人，他們的負罪感會越來越弱；而那些一直兢兢業業工作的人，他們心中因失去享受生活樂趣而產生的后悔感會越變越強。還記得那句老話嗎？沒有哪個即將離世之人會說出“我希望能再加加班”這樣的話。

兩位作者還對商場購物者的心理進行了研究，詢問他們購買一件價格不菲的衣服后的后悔情緒。結果表明，那些覺得自己短期內會后悔的人買下了價位適中的衣服，而認為自己很長時間后會后悔的購物者則出手大方。他們寫道：前一種情緒刺激了消費者的節約動機，而后一種情緒則將購物者推向奢侈浪費。

當然，奢侈品廠家對人們的這種心理也是諳熟于心。我可以想像這樣的標語：“奢侈品：有益人生”，或是“卡地亞：不擁有它將是你的憾事”。不過奢侈品是否有助于你的財務狀況，這一問題就另當別論了。（沒有人會在破產時說“我真后悔沒多買幾個古奇包”。）

讀者們，你們怎么看？奢侈帶來的長期益處會讓你甘于承擔短期后悔的風險嗎？