@frimmel:
The thing isn’t the age difference. The thing is the maturity level, where they are in growing up and experiencing the world, of the younger person and what that person wants.
Many folks under 25 (especially those 18-22) change more in one year than those over 30 will change in ten.
Numerical age difference is just a guideline to how much growing someone might have to do yet.
To date and have fun age is irrelevant but the more growing the younger person has to do the greater chance a large age gap will lead to a short term relationship.
This is what I was going to say - the age difference may not be a big deal, but the specific age of each individual does.
GG, I have never been married, but I’ve dated some, been in love, and have a kid. If there is a concern over stigma about an age difference, ignore it. What matters is the relationship between the two people.
It’s not unlikely that people 15 years apart could fall in love, get married, and stay that way for the rest of their lives. But as already stated, the younger the person, generally the less they know about themselves and the more they’ll change.
Most people would say getting married before 25, 30, even 35 is just dumb. But I’ve seen 17 and 18 year olds that had the world in their palm and certainly could have handled being married.
Also remember that as you get older, the age difference must be larger before it is significant. For example, 21 and 29 could be a sizable difference, but 71 and 79 aren’t far from each other at all.
Welcome back, GG. :-) If this is a personal question, my advice would be to wait, wait, wait to get married until you are absolutely sure and the other person is too. Until then, date, date, date.