Is it hardest to meet someone in 40s?

[Introvertedandalone]

I’ve recently been told this by someone I usually take good advice from:

In 20s everyone is living wild and free. In 30s people are starting to settle down and probably already with the one they want to commit to/looking for that person. In 40s the single people are fresh out of a divorce/LTR and there’s usually a reason for that and a lot of baggage.

is there truth in this or is there hope to meet someone decent in your 40s? Who isn’t someone else’s discarded useless man?

just looking for a glimmer of hope as I approach 40, relatively newly single and worrying about a lonely future. Why would a decent man be single in his 40s?

I'm not going to lie, dating in your 40s is hard. Everyone has some kind of baggage but that doesn't necessarily make them undatable... I have baggage but I still think I'm a pretty good catch

Best advice I could give you is be happy with yourself and on your own and be really clear about what you want from a relationship/partner when you do meet someone. It must enhance an already good life or it's not right. I might not be the best person to take advice from given that I've spent the last 6 years single but I'd rather that than be in a bad relationship and I've had some fun flings that were never going to go anywhere but were fun nonetheless!

Starting to OLD again after a break (very hard to meet people to date offline due to career/kids/friends all happily partnered up) and it's mostly depressing as so few pass even the worth swiping right test as I'm really looking for a long term partner now. But I'm happy to bide my time and hopeful that someone will come along eventually.

Surely it's a bigger red flag if someone doesn't have some kind of baggage by their 30s or 40s?