Best and worst decades of life are in the present

"Split by age group, there's a preference towards one's present where those in their 20s said their 20s, those in their 30s said their 30s, and so on. This recency lean appears to carry over to the older age groups, but subtract that, and you can see a second lean favoring three decades earlier. Those in their 50s favored their 20s. Those in their 60s favored their 30s."

"YouGov asked people when they think will be the best years of their life. Split by age group, there's a preference towards one's present where those in their 20s said their 20s, those in their 30s said their 30s, and so on. It's also interesting that after the 20s, few people thought their best decades were yet to come. That seems kind of sad, but I guess there's no time like the present."

A YouGov poll asked people when they think the best years of their life will be. Responses split by age show a strong preference for the respondent's current decade: people in their 20s chose their 20s, those in their 30s chose their 30s, and so forth. This recency preference continues into older groups but masks a secondary pattern favoring the decade three decades earlier. For example, respondents in their 50s most often favored their 20s and those in their 60s favored their 30s. Few respondents above their 20s expected their best decades to be yet to come.

Read at FlowingData