Brits suffer from early midlife crisis By: Andrew Regan

The mid-life crisis has been exposed as a fallacy by a new survey conducted by Saga Health Insurance. According to the research, people in their 20s who are more likely to be stressed and worried about their future prospects than those in their 50s.

Of chief concern is the need to be financially successful, cited by 40 per cent of those polled as their major cause of discomfort. However, this is even more apparent when people in their late teens and early twenties are isolated, with two in three of the people in this age group (69 per cent) of the opinion that financial pressures are the most acute they have to bear. By way of contrast, just one in five of those over the age of 50 is of the same opinion.

The study also shows that many people change their outlook on life at the age of 50. Up until that point, the majority of Britons believe they worry more the older they get. After they reach 50, though, 17 per cent said they started to worry less.

Until that time, younger Britons could reduce the stress associated with their most pressing concern by managing their finances online. In order to do this, they could open an internet savings account, allowing them to handle their accounts from the comfort of their homes.

It also seems that Britons over the age of 50 are increasingly sympathetic, with many expressing their displeasure regarding the stresses and strains that their offspring are having to endure.

Indeed, 70 per cent say that there is now even more pressure on youngsters to achieve 'life goals' such as getting married or buying a home than there was 20 years ago. On the other hand, those aged 25 to 34 are the least likely of all to be of the opinion that their generation is under more pressure now than their parents were 20 years ago.

"It's well documented that many of today's baby-boomers have never had it so good, particularly with their finances thanks to soaring property prices," commented Andrew Goodsell, chief executive of Saga Group.

"This study clearly shows that they are also the most relaxed and dispels the view that many have a mid-life crisis when they reach their fifties - they actually worry less and are happier with their lot in life, which certainly doesn't sound like a generation in crisis!"