Growing up, my mom always gave me advice about relationships, but one thing stuck with me more than anything else. She would often say, “Sweetheart, don’t waste your time with boys who haven’t figured out what they want.”

One day, when I was about 22, I asked her to explain. “What do you mean? Should I just wait until they grow up?”

She shook her head and smiled knowingly. “No, what I mean is, don’t date them until they’ve already lived and learned. Men under 50 are often still lost in their own world. But by the time they reach 50, they’ve usually learned their lessons, and they’ve had time to make money and become financially secure.”

“Isn’t that a little… calculated?” I asked, half-joking.

“Think of it as smart, not calculated. You want to be with someone who can provide for you, who knows what they want and how to get it. A man in his 50s will treat you like a queen, and he’ll have the resources to back it up. No stressing over bills, no dealing with immaturity.”

As the years went on, I began to see the wisdom in her words. Dating men closer to my age always seemed to come with unnecessary drama and uncertainty. Maybe she was right—experience and stability do make life a whole lot easier.