If you're 23 or 69, you're living your best life.

Millennials and baby boomers have something in common after all.

A study of 23,000 Germans aged 17-85 has pinpointed the ages which people report being happiest.

The survey, conducted by the Centre for Economic Performance, asked participants how happy they were with their lives and to predict how they would feel in five years' time.The same people were asked to report on  their levels of life satisfaction five years later.

"The study found that life happiness follows a U-shaped curve, peaking at the age of 23 and then again at 69," The Independent reported.

The researchers explained how young participants overestimated their future happiness, while older folk underestimated theirs. 

"It would seem that the fun of the early 20s, when you're just beginning to embark on your career and independent adult life, is matched only by the joy of retirement, when after years of hard work you have the free time to explore your own interests and take on new challenges," The Independent article mused.

"Why our happiness levels tend to plateau in the intervening years is anyone's guess – perhaps career pressures, mortgages and the strains of raising a family get in the way."

Article Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/91602891/study-shows-were-happiest-at-ages-23-and-69
Image Source: https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/i/f/v/0/f/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1ijd8r.png/1492231984987.jpg

VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Pinpoint (v.) ~ find or locate exactly
2. Embark (v.) ~ begin (a course of action, especially one that is important or demanding)
3. Plateau (v.) ~ reach a state of little or no change after a time of activity or progress
4. Mortgage (n.) ~ a legal agreement by which a bank or other creditor lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of the debtor's property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the payment of the debt
5. Strain (n.) ~ a severe or excessive demand on the strength, resources, or abilities of someone or something
6. Intervene (v.) ~ occur in time between events

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. According to the study, what ages are people the happiest?
2. Why do you think people aged 23 and 69 are the happiest?
3. Compare your happiness level when you were 23 and now? How has it changed?
4. What are the various factors that affect a person's happiness? Enumerate examples and explain.