If you’re here to see how young of a woman is permissible, leave now. This isn’t for you and neither is she.

If you’re still reading, welcome. You’ve either fallen for someone younger and can’t figure out if you’re a romantic or a cautionary tale, or you’re 50 and newly single and the options are making you question everything you thought you knew about yourself. Either way, pull up a chair. We need to talk about the math.

There is an equation. Half your age plus seven. That is the outer edge of acceptable—and to be clear, this only applies to adult women. Under that number and you already know. Your stomach already knows. That is why you are doing the math. There’s your baseline. But like I said before, we aren’t here to figure out how young of a woman you can catch because that should never be the game. Instead, let’s have an honest conversation about age gaps, gender, and power. 

Age gap relationships are, in theory, no big deal. If two equally matched adults enter a loving, healthy relationship, their birth year shouldn’t matter all that much. But it’s rarely age that’s actually the issue. Instead, age differences become problematic when one party tries to exploit that gap, whether through wealth, power, or prestige. This can go either way—young people can exploit older and older people can exploit younger—but for the purpose of this article and audience, let’s talk about older men dating younger women.

If you’re really and earnestly falling for a younger woman and you’re not simply interested in someone who’s more malleable, who relies on you for money or care, or who you can better manipulate, you’re likely in the clear. That said, let’s go through some specifics to determine whether age really is just a number.

The Obvious Signs

First thing’s first: there are some definite no-gos.

If you look like her dad, do not do it. You will be at dinner and the waiter will hand her the dessert menu and you the check and something will shift in the room that no amount of charm puts back.

If she is younger than your adult children, they will never forgive you for fucking their classmate. Nobody at Christmas will say this out loud, but they shouldn’t have to. Same goes for if she’s the same age as your children.

If she laughs at your references the way you laugh at your parents—warmly, blankly, with no idea why it matters. You will explain Goodfellas once. Then again. Then you will stop. That silence will be your relationship from now on.

The Sex

Every woman I know who has dated an older man eventually says it quietly: He does not fuck enough. She is at her prime and he is taking a Viagra just to get interested and still wants to go to bed at 10. She wanted a man with experience. She did not know experience had a bedtime, a bad knee, and a cardiologist on speed dial.

If you want to fuck someone younger, be fit enough to fuck them. This is not a suggestion. This is a medical fact dressed as dating advice. She is not stopping at five minutes, or even at fifteen. She did not come here to watch you catch your breath on the edge of the bed like you just ran a 5k when you did not run a 5k. She did not come here to hear your knee make that sound. The acrobatics she has in mind require a body that has been maintained, not stored. Get a trainer. Take the stairs. The only thing less sexy than not fucking enough is fucking for four minutes and then needing a nap and an ice pack.

If you feel like you can keep up with a younger woman, congratulations! But if you’re exhausted by the thought, adjust your age preferences up five to 10 years now.

And Now, the Good News

The math is actually on your side. Yes, there are many things to consider when you have a significant age gap with a prospective partner, and there are real concerns—the sex thing, the weird looks in public, what your ex-wife will think. But let’s be honest: women sometimes seek older men because the ones their age are working on a different timeline.

While women in their late 20s and early 30s are charting ovulation and touring apartments near good school districts, men their age are at Burning Man. Or in Ibiza. Or in a band that is not going anywhere. The 35 year old man who is finally ready, who has the apartment and has actually been to therapy seems to be a mythological creature. Women are still waiting for him. Their eggs are not.

The older man who wants children and the 26 year old who wants children are often the most logical pairing in the room. Same mission. Same timeline. Nobody pretending otherwise. This is the one version that requires no explanation and somehow gets the most suspicious looks.

The 25 year old man and the 40 year old divorced single mom want each other, with no complications, on a Tuesday. That chapter is written for both of them and they both know it. This one gets the looks too. 

But these examples are the exact kind of age gap relationships that work. Both people know what they want and are looking at an equal partner who wants the same thing. There’s no pretense or weird motives, simply a shared desire. So, if you’re wondering whether your new, younger girlfriend is too young for you, consider your motives and hers. Are you working on the same timelines? On the same goals? If you’re freshly divorced and wondering what your lower age limit might be, do the same calculation. Do you want a woman who might want kids in the near future, or who is still establishing her career? Do you want someone who has done all that already? Your choice, but be honest. 

Too young is when your stomach tightens and you override it. If you have to Google whether it is weird, it is weird. If you are asking your single friends instead of your married ones, you already have your answer.