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From The Guardian, Friday 7 November 2008

Forget money and career, it seems that true happiness is all about finally saying adieu to the daily grind of work.

A new French study has found that people are at their happiest between the age of 65 and 70. The authors at the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies said the findings echo research in other countries which suggest that at 65, when people have stopped striving, comparing themselves to others and chasing career goals, they enter their happiest period.

The institute has produced a French age "curve" of happiness showing that at 20, people are moderately happy. The feel-good factor then steadily declines to hit a low from the age of 45 to 50. After that, there is a sharp rise to hit a peak of wellbeing between 65 and 70.

Cédric Afsa, a co-author of the report, told the Guardian that the peak of happiness at 65 could be explained by the fact that "as they get older, people review their hopes and expectations and attain a certain wisdom, they lower their objectives". In other words, they chill out.

The study suggests that money is not the main factor. The happiness curve seems to be the opposite of the wealth curve. People often have the most money around the age of 45, the least happy time.

After the age of 70, happiness sharply declines, due to factors such as health problems or the death of a partner.

The study was based on analysis of 25 years of research on whether French people were satisfied with their lives.