03/27/08: I usually say 5 years up or down

after you reach the age of ~23 (which makes the lowest edge 18, and perfectly legal). So if you're 30, I wouldn't go much younger than 25. Granted, we men have more leeway, since we mature more slowly and younger women are usually as mature as we are, which means that older women are basically SOL when it comes to dating younger men.

Still, you have to allow for some kind of flexibility. If you're infatuated with a 23 year old, and it clicks, there's nothing wrong with that. It's *possible* you're at the same maturity level (I went to a wedding last year of a 23 year old woman and a 30 year old man). Yet as a general rule of thumb, I'd go with the 5 year spectrum.

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