Researchers recently have taken any number of positions on the age-old question: Can money buy happiness?

But for working people, the issue isn't academic. It's a matter wrestled with every day in personal decisions big and small. Should I be a struggling artist, or a comfortable accountant? Should I pay retail price to save time or hunt around for a bargain, even if it takes all day? Should I eat out, or at home?

Even if money can't buy happiness, for many people, it certainly may help. In a special package this week, Making the Move for Money, The Wall Street Journal Online and CareerJournal.com explore the idea of money as a motivator for making decisions.

Reporter Sarah E. Needleman offers five tips on how to make a career move that will lift your bottom line. She also profiles a professional who left his post as chief creative officer at an advertising agency to make more money by opening his own shop.

Plus, Rewarding Transitions offers a roadmap for turning a set of skills into a more financially rewarding career.

Also, Gretchen Rubin, an author who blogs about happiness, makes the case for the connection between money and happiness.

To accompany the essay, we created a crib sheet of recent academic studies on the link between money and happiness for readers interested in seeing the research for themselves.

Also, reporter Dana Mattioli talks with a former journalist who made the jump to a career in public relations and immediately boosted his paycheck by more than 35%.

The Was It Worth It? Gallery highlights some folks who reached financial heights but paid a high price along the way.

How about you? How much more money do you think you need to feel happy? Vote in our question of the day and join a discussion with other readers.