Happiness Meter Peaks at - 74!

You think people past their 60s are already ancient? Well, scientists believe that life may well begin, not at 40, but at 74.

And the reasons for it are: lesser responsibilities, financial worries and more time to look after yourself, says the report.

After regularly questioning 21,000 men and women, scientists from Germany and America concluded that from the teenage years until 40 happiness declines. It levels off until 46 and then starts to increase until peaking at 74.

For the study, boffins asked participants how happy they were with their lives providing a scale from one to seven - seven indicated complete contentment, reports The Telegraph.

Teenagers in their late teens marked themselves at around 5.5 which fell to around 5 by age 40. At 74 happiness averaged at 5.9.

The report has been published in the journal Social Indicators Research.

It concluded: "Compared to younger individuals, older people tend to place a greater emphasis on emotional aspects of social interactions and are likely to remember the emotional content of their experiences."

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Bringing up a family, buying a house and creating a career added to the stresses experience by those in their twenties and thirties.

Dr Carlo Strenger, from Tel Aviv University, said: "If you make fruitful use of what you have discovered about yourself in the first half of your life, the second half can be the most fulfilling.

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"Most people can anticipate a second life, if not a second career."

Source-ANI