LIFESTYLE: What’s the best age to get married? Check it out! By Shade Haruna

If you’re in your 20s, you’re probably thinking that you’ve got stacks of time to find The One, settle down and relinquish your irresponsible single life.

Because according to something called the ‘37% Rule’, the perfect age to get married is 26.

The 37% Rule is basically the theory that you need to screen a range of options in a limited time frame. That could be jobs, new flats, prospective housemates or romantic partners.

And the best time to make that decision is when you’ve looked at 37% of the options available.

At that part of the selection process, you’ve gathered enough information to make a considered decision without having wasted too much time assessing further, unnecessary options.

After you’ve seen just over a third of the contenders, you’re in the perfect position to choose the best.

Is 26 really the ideal age to get wed?

Rebecca, 26, is getting married soon hear her:

I feel like 26 is the perfect age to get married because I’ve done university, living with friends and having my own space. I met my partner when I’d had some time alone, and I felt ready to be in a relationship.

Because I’m on the younger side it means we’ll have some time to enjoy being married before we start thinking about having kids, without heading into the ‘fertility danger zone’ that experts like to scare us with.

Toyin, also 26, definitely isn’t getting married anytime soon

26 is a strange limbo age. Some of my friends are married, some already have kids while some of are still clubbing at night.

If the right guy comes along then great, but you’ve gotta realise marriage is (should be) forever and forever is a long time. Your 20s only last 10 years and there’s too much to do before kids start coming around and ruining it all.

According to ‘Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decision’, co-authored by journalist Brian Christian and cognitive scientist, that means that by 26, you’ve assessed enough of human nature to pick your life partner.

It’s based on the given that most of us are looking for love between the ages of 18 and 40 – meaning that the optimal age for seriously thinking about committing to someone is just past your 26th birthday – 37% into the 22-year window.

Before then, you’re missing out on potentially higher-calibre partners and after that, your good options start to diminish, basically meaning that unless you settle, you’ll be alone forever.

So, that’s good.