ANSWERS: 68
  • I think 10 yrs,and my gf i have now is 8 yrs younger than me,so i would think its no big deal,but 10 yrs is as far as ill go.
  • I'm 18/male and i want a standard deviation of 3 years
  • Ok I'm a male and 24 Right now I would go as old as 30. And probably as young as 20. The younger end will expand as they get older. I might consider a 18 or 19 year old but it would take some serious thought and consideration and I'd have to approach the situation very carefully so it would only be if she was very mature and I really really liked her. And I wouldn't marry her til she was at least 22.
  • I probably wouldn't be comfortable with an age difference of more than 10 years. Having said that if you are madly in love with the person for the right reasons and they feel likewise then age shouldn't be an issue. The biggest age difference for me before in a relationship was 6 years, and my wife and i are are only 18 months apart.
  • Ive always dated older men. My ex husband is 12 years older than me. My latest BF is 11 years older than me. I think my limit though would be 15 years diff. although it really depends largely on the individual...personality etc.
  • If I were dating (I am 45) I wouldn't date someone younger than my children (oldest is 27) this would just feel wrong. And in the other direction, I couldn't date anyone old enough to be my mother.
  • The most for me is 4 years. She is 4 years younger.
  • I think that a maximum of 3-10 years difference probably works best for most people. But when I was 18, I seriously contemplated marrying someone about twice my age. I think mental age/maturity sometimes is a LOT more important than physical age. It wasn't the age difference that stopped me, it was the fact that he was no more mature or financially stable than I was. Even at 18 I had the notion that a man ought to be able to at least afford to feed himself, much less his wife. I'm female. And I don't think it matters who is older, although I used to think the man should be older. I think I got over that when I had a couple guys in their late forties with rather formidable personalities made it clear they were considering me as a wife. At that point, I figured out that someone who would let me be myself was a MUCH more important thing than who was older. <OOOOooohhh! I still get cold shivers.>
  • Just to put my 2 cents in, it would be about 5 years younger for the woman (I am a male) and 5 years or so older than me. I guess I am conservative about this, since I have know people where the age gap they said was the thing that broke things up. Maybe that was just a convenient excuse however. Ok everyone got my points. Thanks for participating. At least I got in 1-2 questions people felt stirred to reply to before bed. :)
  • I am a male; When I got married my wife was 19 I was 26 after the divorce, had a 21 y/o GF when I was 39. had 33 y/o GF at age 45
  • I'm about to turn 28 and my husband just turned 25. People who don't know always think he is the older one though.
  • I'm about to turn 28 and my husband just turned 25. People who don't know always think he is the older one though.
  • 18 years. A stupid month long fling
  • Well, i'm nearly 23 so I'd say 3 years younger or 7 years olders. Between 20 and 30 but it depends on the maturity of the man!
  • I'm 18 and I'm a woman. I wouldn't date anyone more than 4 years older than me or anyone more than 6 months younger than me. I might date someone older or younger than that depending on their maturity and personality.
  • I think five to eight years would be enough. I am female, twenty years old. I would want them to be a little older so that our maturity levels will mesh but not clash.
  • I'm 21, the oldest I'll date is 30. When I start dating past that, I find the majority of men of that age and I don't have much in common...especially when it comes to the settling down part - I want to settle down, but I want to be about 25 when I do.
  • 4-5 years older, only one year younger.
  • Age, either way, makes no difference. As long as you both are happy.
  • Personally? two. But I'm a hypocrite, I'm with someone +8 years.
  • I don't think age makes much of a difference, as long as the youngest person is at least 18. (By the time you're 18, you usually have a pretty good idea of where you want to go in life). When I was 21, I had a notorious relationship with a woman 18 years my senior (we were both available). We were on and off for a year and a half before I decided to let it go completely. If she hadn't had a drinking problem, we'd still be together today.
  • I'm 25 (female) my boyfriend is 34
  • I am an 18 year old female. 3 years younger to 6 years older is the age range I would consider dating or marrying.
  • I am female and with a man who is 8 years my senior. I don't think it matters, because we are happy together.
  • I think the age difference I have now if I am going to be older than the man. I am 26 and my boyfriend is 22. Any younger, I don't know if I could handle the immaturity of them (easy guys I am not saying all guys this age are immature.) As for dating someone older...I think I would go ten years older max.
  • My first boyfriend was 7 years older than me. I was 18 and he was 25, it was not a good thing. I don't think I would ever consider anyone more than 5 years older or 5 years younger. My husband is 9 months older than me and we get along great.
  • My husband and I are ~3-1/2 years apart. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I was 15 when we met, and he was 19. It's worked out well for us. If I wasn't married, I'd look for a guy 3-5 years younger, because women typically live longer and I'm a power house of energy. I want to grow old with my man.
  • I think right around 10 years is probably the furthest I would go. Theoretically, of course. You never know. Although I am married now, so no more dating for me lol...but for what it's worth, my hubby is almost 11 years older and we do great. My mom is 10 years older than my dad and they have been married for 21 years. I'm not all about Anna Nicole bridging the generation gap, but depending on the two people, I don't think that 10-13 years is an unreasonable age difference.
  • Anything that is illegal.
  • I answered a similar question before. It went basically like this: I am 45 years old. Dating someone younger than my kids (oldest is 27) would just feel wrong. On the other side, dating someone old enough to be my mother would feel just as strange.
  • I like to have 3 years either way as a rule of thumb.
  • I've heard the max difference should be half the oldest persons age plus 7. Sounds good, but really, whatever wroks.
  • I would go 3 years my junior or 5 my senior. Unless the junior was Tom Welling(Smallville) or Barry Watson (What About Brian)- exceptions can be made ! :)
  • Youngest is 14. Oldest I don't draw the line. Terrible, I know. I have just never felt the need. It's not like I have 80 year olds falling to their decrepid knees for me to date them.
  • As long as you are both consenting adults it depends on your feelings. However massive age gaps cause problems. I dated someone 21 years my senior for a year and a half and she was basically a generation older than me, having married and had grown up kids and I was only 24. That is probably the line. I had a very brief relationship with someone 23 years older but there were massive difficulties .
  • Nothing over wrinkly and nothing under 18.
  • My limit is between 30 and 45.
  • There is no line to draw. Being happy together destroyed that line many years ago.
  • The law is certainly a best practice guide but here are a few others: *If you had a child with them this year, are they young enough to share your child's toys? *If they weren't yet born before you reached high school, then perhaps they're too young. *If they have no idea of the music you listened to as a child, then they may be too young. *If you are out and about with them, they've dyed their hair to remove the grey but people still assume you're their parent, then you may be too young for them. *If you argue with them and they pull rank based on age and begin to treat you like one of their children, then you may be too young for them. *If they have children your age, then you may be too young for them. *If you are of the age where children are on the horizon for you but they're talking about retirement and beginning to examine the adult nappies in the supermarket, then perhaps you're not quite compatible. For me, it's not just the whole thing of being with someone from a different generation, it's also the thing of if I have kids and they won't live to see or enjoy their kids growing up (and yes, I do know people die at all ages, not just in their 70's etc). And have you noticed that when that kind of thing happens if it's an older guy with a younger girl he's congratulated, she's looked at as a gold-digger and a tramp etc? That's what I want to know! All that aside however, it's the legalities but please also consider emotional age. Some people are emotionally older than others. I know someone my own age who I wouldn't date or even set up with my most desparate single friends because they're emotionally a child.
  • Personally, I doubt I'd go out with anyone older than 26, though I'd consider men in their (early) thirties. I wouldn't want to go out with anyone younger than me, so around 18. That's all OK in theory but in reality, it's difficult to choose who you fall in love with.
  • Personally, I like to date men at least a year older (not exceeding 10 years older) then myself. I have never dated anyone the same age or younger, I think it's the maturity factor (although I am sure there are mature males my age, I just haven't met any)
  • Younger I am not interested in, so no need to draw that line. Older? I'm in my early 30s, so I would say 15 years my senior. Possibly 20 if said guy was young at heart and could keep up with me. I typically date guys that are 10 or so years older than me as it is, so it's not much of a stretch.
  • depends on what age you are. if you are 30s to 50s and want to date younger or older, it's probably not so bad, but a teenager dating an old geezer or an old person with a very young one...not good. there is nothing in common. one is using the other.
  • Oldest probably 32. Youngest I'm not so sure about. I think my church would be upset if i dated anyone younger then 20. But I'm not sure how I would feel about it.
  • Too young: 2 or more years younger than me Too old: 4 or more years older than me. I don't know why, exactly, but it all comes down to who I feel comfortable with.
  • Difficult for me to say. Younger I do not know , Older than Jailbait, Older it would depend on the guy my husband was a little older than me but not enough to make any difference I think if the person was active and fun I would not worry too much about the age
  • Well I can not say I am proud of this but I dated someone that was 19 when I was 28 for a couple months. It made me feel young and vibrant after a terrible divorce. Though as I found out I was basically his Mom in the relationship-felt creepy so I ended it. But He would not give me up. Stalked me for 3 months: banged on my windows in the middle of the night, hid in my car several times, snuck in my garage and hung out there all night til I got up for work. I came out for work one morning at 4:30 am and he was standing behind the open screen. First I had a 66 split window VW which I had to warm up for 10 minutes otherwise I could not drive away (it would die)so I would go out start bus then go back in and carry out sleeping children. I had carried the first out placed him in the carseat, went back into get baby (2 year old) as I was walking out I SAW HIS REFLECTION IN THE GLASS SCREEN DOOR. I screamed! I had no idea what to do...one in the bus, one in my arms and the bus was running. Really a bad situation.
  • i am a 21 yr old female.. i would date someone up to 10 yrs older then me, but ofcourse there are other circumstances ie maturity level, where you are in life, what you want from life... i perfer a male older then myself.
  • i am a 21 yr old female.. i would date someone up to 10 yrs older then me, but ofcourse there are other circumstances ie maturity level, where you are in life, what you want from life... i perfer a male older then myself.
  • i'm 25 and i'd take billy bob thorton or tommy lee jones any day
  • When i was 26 i met and fell in love with a 66 year old man. We married two years later. He has since passed away, but i have no regrets about the time i spent with him. He was amazing.
  • 4 years
  • 8 years. (Within decent, reasonable ages.)
  • Five years. I married him.
  • It was 4 1/2 years, my only date and love, the man I married 35 years ago.
  • I am female. I have never, nor would I ever consider dating a younger man. I had to grow up way too fast myself, and I cannot be bothered to put up with the immaturity of men my own age, much less younger. My husband is 16 years my senior, and we often joke that he's too young for me. ^_^
  • Maybe no more than 4 years, maybe less. As I'm getting older the age gap I don't mind is becoming bigger. But, I think I would want to retire at the same time as my husband, therefore I would want to be close in age to him (we have retirement funds in NZ we can't access till 65). Also depends how much money he has, give me a multi millionaire whom is an awesome person too and I probably won't care.
  • I am female. I am 22 and husband is 40 (18 years) his parents have 18 years between them and his grandparents had 20 years between them. I personally don't think age difference matters to me but that is probably because i've gotten so much crap about my relationship and the age difference. but i think that if you love that person it doesn't matter.
  • Everyone is different for myself, I've had 2 partners they were both older Guys one 6 years older, the other 9 years and the age was never an issue, complimented each other generally I think anytime a difference nearing 15 yrs or more might be something I would have to think about. We talk about these numbers and they really are just numbers. A couple I'm very close friends with share a 21 yr difference She is early forty to his early 60 but they look gr8 together and really are happy.
  • I am currently in my late teens and am very attracted to a man in his early 30s... Is that too much of an age difference?
  • i will be 22 in october and my boyfriend is 30, the age diffrence is not a problem,age is only a number it doesnt describe the way someone is!
  • As long as the two people are adults, I don't think love has an age limit. I once dated someone much much older than me.
  • I'm a woman and I would have to be the younger one. I would go as much as 17 years. More if he was really really wealthy (with no pre-nup stating that he hands over the money to his kids)
  • Age is only a measure of time and should not be a factor in a good loving relationship as long as both participants are of legal age. I don't think there should be any age limitaions, however that is just my opinion for what it's worth..
  • i am female, and i always dated older men, i married a man 10 years my senior, at the ripe age of 18, i didnt see how i stunted my own growth as a woman, by being with a man who essentially took care of me. i am currently married to a man a year older than me, and we have been, together, for nearly a decade, i prefer it this way, because we experience and grow together, as a couple and as individuals. however as long as you are consenting adults, you are all the same age in the dark. ive had several lovers who have been much much older than myself..and i must admit, i learned A LOT!;)
  • Probably around ten years either direction. For me, common interests, shared values, ability to have fun together and work together in partnership are more important than age.
  • Female. I wouldn't date anyone younger. Up to 15 years older is fine.
  • Probably five years older than me to 10 years younger.I am a 46 year old guy. Last two relationships over the past 25 years have been the same age and I'm currently dating a woman two years younger.

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