September 17, 2004 9:24 AM

The quarter-life crisis
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 9:24 AM

So you're 20-something and life is all wine and roses, your career and its myriad possibilities ahead of you, your time free and no dependents to tie you down, and you've got it all over those hordes of aging, graying, soon-to-be-retired baby boomers. Right? Well, sort of. . .:

There is a new movement afoot of professionals studying today's 20-somethings. They maintain that there's a phase of life - quarter-life - which, like adolescence and midlife, has its own set of challenges and characteristics. People get married later and have more transient careers than before. They are in debt longer, sometimes in school longer. The early to late 20s represents a time of extreme instability.

Striking a chord? Then you may also want to check out the story's sidebar, "Surviving a quarter-life crisis", which provides some coping tools.
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