When is the right age to get married? It can be a loaded question, especially for college guys.
Getting married is something many of us have planned for our future and we all have some sort of idea when we want to start settling down and getting on with a family. And some of us haven't even started thinking about it.
I went around at asked 27 college-age guys when they think a perfect age is to get married:
1. "23 to 24"
"I'm just excited to start a family and I want to be younger when my kids are like 16-17."
2. "Who cares"
"Who cares as long as you find someone worth it."
3. "26 or 27"
"I feel that right out of college you shouldn't be in any hurry to get married. You should take that time to travel and enjoy life. If you're in a healthy long lasting relationship, then great, bring that person with you. Even after you're married you could still travel and experience those things you never could have while stuck in college paying for multiple things. Around that age is also when I feel people really start to figure out their budget and will be able to make more responsible decisions with their money. Don't forget weddings are expensive. But you shouldn't be rushing marriage."
4. "24 or 25"
"Depends on the relationship honestly. Right now I would say after dating for two and a half years, I would get engaged now if dreams line up, and marriage around 24 or 25."
5. "28"
"You're more mature, been with the person longer since probably living together after college. Have a job, grown professionally and more stable to support a loved one or a family."
6. "28"
"I've been engaged before, I got engaged at 18, and thought I had everything ahead. Everything lined up, until she walked away because she wasn't ready to settle down. 28, life is still ahead, but plenty of living has been done. People can get married at when it feels right for them."
7. "28"
"Age is 28. More than likely we're both are out of college and are settled down a bit."
8. "25"
"I don't know why."
9. "25"
"Assuming you graduate in 4 years, that leaves most people around the age of 22 when they graduate. Once you graduate you should find a job and become financially stable. Then you can do things like traveling or anything else you want to do before your life really starts buckling down. Also you should make sure you can live with your S.O. And take the time to make the decision because you are committing your life to them. 25 to me seems like an appropriate age to wait till. Also shouldn't propose unless you've dated for a couple years in my opinion."
10. "24"
"Because it's far enough out of college where you've worked to be financially stable and you would've gotten enough world experience to know what you want in a partner."
11. "27"
"I would say that's the 'by the book' perfect age. Realistically, that gives you plenty of time to graduate college, build seniority at work, travel, and or get to know your partner to the best level. However, I know many very successful couples that were much younger and older, essentially completely invalidating the 'perfect age' idea."
12. "25"
"Young, yet mature. Usually have a steady job. Good time to start a family."
13. "28"
"28 is the perfect age because you and you're significant other can have established lives independently before you decide to go down a path together. Needless to say you may be 'together' before marriage but you aren't necessarily legally bonded at that point in time."
14. "Whenever you feel comfortable"
"Whenever you are comfortable. Marriage is something that shouldn't be forced at a 'certain age.' The worst thing to do is expect to get married at a certain age and get there and just not feel like you should. Getting married too early is a terrible thing to happen. If you feel like you are comfortable with your significant other, than go for it. But if you aren't comfortable or don't have a significant other, than don't get married; no matter the age."
15. "25"
"Hopefully career is set, been through some of your fun 20's to have experience, but have some of your 20's to spend some of that time with the one you're meant to be with."
16. "25 to 28"
"Mainly like a year after graduating grad school or getting done with college to figure things out first. Or else younger than that is just way too early because there's so much to do in the world, you never know where you're going to end up in the future and like where you get a job. Because you could end up being two completely different places from one another. But mainly because there's so much stuff to do in life and live it up as much as possible."
17. "25 to 26"
"You're settled in your career, hopefully have a place and hopefully have a dog by then."
18. "27"
"It is around the age most can get a good full time job after they graduate and can start to support their families."
19. Male, 20
"Whenever you feel right, age doesn't define how much you love someone."
20. "No perfect age"
"There's no perfect age to get married because that implies that everybody finds love at the same point in their lives which just isn't true."
21. "29 to 30"
"Financially stable, and past your wild party stage for hanging out with people!"
22. "25"
"Because my girlfriend and I will be out of college and ready to travel together as a married couple."
23. "25"
"Just beginning a whole new chapter in life with jobs and moving out by then, just seems like the right time to start a family."
24. "26"
"You're young enough to adventure and go on trips with your s/o and old enough to be mature enough to know what you're getting into and settle."
25. "28"
"It's right before you hit 30, by that time too you should be done or almost done with school and have some type of stable job. And if you have kids you won't be so old either by the time they grow old!"
26. "30"
"You can get your hoe stage out of the way."
27. "No perfect age"
"There is no universal perfect age. And I'd even argue that there is no individual age that is perfect for marriage. In my opinion, circumstances dictate a lot about your life's timeline so it varies for different people. Also some people are ready to have sex at 18 and others aren't ready at 30. Maturity and readiness is subjective."
As you can see, many of these guys relate and some don't at all. It appears to me that the most average answer is mid to late 20s when they want to start picking out that engagement ring.
